After a two year absence, I managed to see this year's Summer Exhibition with a fortnight to spare.    The first thing that struck me was the large number of people taking photographs.  I officiously told someone it wasn't allowed but an attendant corrected me - this was the first time that the Royal Academy had allowed photography.  So my mobile was pressed into use and I was able to capture images of some of the works which caught my attention.  Resolution for next year - take good camera with full battery!

The Small Weston Room was handed over to William Kentridge in recognition of his election as an Honarary Academician and the space was used to show his recent works on trees of Africa - linocuts, Indian ink and digital prints on dictionary pages.  The ink marks were particularly well suited to the subject matter.

An unexpected surprise was a display from Tom Phillips' The Humument, showing the development of individual pages.  And a large display of 40 prints by Norman Ackroyd was stunning. 

Apart from a large Grayson Perry tapestry and a small embroidery of a parrot, I didn't see other textile works.  Perhaps textile artists should make a concerted effort to flood the selection committee with works on textiles so that we would be hard to ignore..........

I have never understood the point of battle re-nactments but the exhibition "Unseen Waterloo - The Conflict Revisited" opened my eyes. 

 The exhibition consists of 70 life size portraits taken by the photographer Sam Faulkner, who has attended the annual Waterloo re-enactment in Belgium since 2009.  Each participant makes their own historically accurate uniform.  The photographs were taken in a pop-up studio on the battlefield against a black background; the dramatic lighting evoked forgotten faces and emotions.

To quote Sam Faulkner - "Unseen Waterloo: The Conflict Revisited" is my attempt to re-interpret and imagine the non-existent portraits from 1815. ...we don't have personal images of the men who actually fought and died that day. ...This work attempts to reclaim the Battle of Waterloo for the valiant 200,000 who have been lost to history".

The exhibition runs until 31 August and is well worth a visit.  To whet your interest are three pictures from the exhibition:

The exhibition at Somerset House, "Beneath the Surface", fittingly displayed in the subterranean Embankment Galleries, is a selection of pieces from the V&A's extensive collection of photographs.  The exhibition shows prints rarely or never before exhibited, by both both nineteenth century pioneers and contemporary artists.