“Best of Archive” opens at the Getty Images Gallery (London)

Exclusive Exhibition (Now Through 1st June 2013) From The World’s Largest Commercial Photography Archive

The entrance to the Carlton Hotel, Cannes, France, 1958. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

British pop singer David Bowie in concert at Earl’s Court, London during his 1978 world tour. (Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Image)

Getty Images Gallery announces the launch of its latest exhibition celebrating a selection of unique and iconic imagery from the Getty Images Archive, the world’s largest commercial photography archive comprising of a collection of over 90 million images. The Getty Images Gallery is situated in central London, just a stone’s throw away from Oxford Circus. Opening hours are Monday to Friday 10am-5.30pm and Saturday 12pm-5.30pm.

A woman walking past a line of advertising posters in Hiroshima, July 1955. Original Publication: Picture Post – 7849 – Hiroshima – pub. 1955 (Photo by John Chillingworth/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Marine chaplain Eli Tavesian giving communion to marine Louis A Loya, at Forward Command Post in Hue, Vietnam. (Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)

The exhibition, Best of Archive, offers a glimpse into a historical and extremely valuable treasure trove of imagery, including vintage prints dating from the late 19th century. With over 90 million images, of which just 0.1 per cent are digitized, Best of Archive brings this magnificent collection alive and in front of Londoners. Best of Archive runs through to Saturday 1 June and admission is free.

In addition to a number of the most iconic and popular images from the archive, the exhibition will also feature lesser seen work by Getty Images’ most cherished archive photographers, including Bert Hardy, Eugene Robert Richee, with estate-stamped and signed prints from Ernst Haas and Slim Aarons. The exceptional photographic content ranges from reportage and social documentary, fashion and portraiture, cultural commentary to architectural studies.

18th November 1939: British sailors talk to a woman in a New York bar (Photo by Kurt Hutton/Picture Post/Getty Images)

1932: American actress Tallulah Bankhead (1902 – 1968), who made her name as a stage actress and won a New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for her performance in The Little Foxes in 1939. (Photo by Irving Lippman/John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images)

Each of the images illustrates an engagement with the world – a face from a troubled time looking you in the eye, or a moment of joy caught forever dancing. Many were designed to be part of a series, but away from this context they are now able to stand alone as a visually arresting image in their own right.

The exhibition will also showcase rarely seen original contact sheets that illustrate the working methods of the photographer or editor, revealing the detailed processes of photography that have been lost to the digital age.

1951: Children playing with an old tyre on the streets of Salford, Manchester. Original Publication: Picture Post – 5461 – Salford Holiday – unpub. (Photo by John Chillingworth/Picture Post/Getty Images)

Of the exhibit, Louise Garczewska, Director, Getty Images Gallery, says: “To truly bring to light the Best of Archive, we would have needed to take over the entire length of Eastcastle Street, so instead we have filled our corner with a small showcase of the world’s finest photography. We are delighted that this collection will give our visitors a flavor of the quality and scale of the archive.”