Simon Baker's Best of 2016 and 2017

1. Araki at Musee Guimet 13 April-05 September, and Hamiltons 27 September-22 November
Not a bad 76th year. A beautiful retrospective show at Musee Guimet in Paris, as well as a striking exhibition of new work at Hamiltons Gallery in London. Araki took the opportunity of being 76 to work with a 6×7 medium format camera and made some of his best work in years.
2. Provoke: Between Protest and Performance at Le Bal, 14 September-11 December
Exhibition touring Europe, currently at Le Bal. Incredibly powerful. A historic show
3. Radical Eye: Modernist Photography from the Sir Elton John Collection, Tate Modern
Curated by my colleague Shoair Mavlian. A real surprise for many visitors and a highpoint of the year for me too.One of the great private collections of modernist photography, in incredible frames!
5. All the photography in the new expanded Tate Modern
It’s everywhere now! Especially happy to see Boris Mikhailov and Sirkka Liisa Kontinen in the new Switch House. Both where they belong at the heart of the collection.
4. Juno Calypso
It has been a great year for this young British artist, who has definitively established herself as a serious contender with strong new work: by no means easy. Very exciting for now, and for the future.

man-ray-1890-1976glass-tears-les-larmes-1932photograph-gelatin-silver-print-on-paper229-x-298-mmcollection-elton-john-man-ray-trustadagp-paris-and-dacs-london-2016
Glass Tears, 1932 by Man Ray, courtesy Tate Modern, from the show Radical Eye: Modernist Photography from the Sir Elton John Collection
In 2017 I’m looking forward to:
1. Masahisa Fukase at Les Rencontres d’Arles, 03 July-24 September
I’m looking forward to working on the first exhibition in Europe to give an overview of his brilliant work. Fukase has been so long overlooked and underrated. I’m very excited to be working with Tomo Kosuga at the Fukase archive, and to be able to bring incredible vintage prints from Japan…
2. Erik Kessels at Camera in Turin
I’m also looking forward to seeing this retrospective show.