This autumn, The Bodleian Libraries will present The Camera Helps, the first retrospective of the work of Oxford photographer Paddy Summerfield, one of Britain’s most distinctive and influential photographic voices.
The exhibition will runs from 11 October to 30 November 2025 in Blackwell Hall at the Weston Library, with a preview display, Order out of Chaos, since 23 August.
Summerfield, who died in 2024, was celebrated for his deeply personal and psychological approach to photography, producing original studies of himself, his family, and the world around him.
Between 2023 and 2024, he donated his photographic archive to the Bodleian, ensuring his legacy will be preserved for research, learning, and future generations.
Curated by his wife and collaborator Patricia Baker-Cassidy alongside photographer and printer Alex Schneideman, The Camera Helps brings together published projects and previously unseen material.
The exhibition will include Mother and Father (2014), Summerfield’s poignant documentation of his parents’ final years, as well as The Oxford Pictures 1968–1978, a striking series capturing Oxford students that reflected both their insecurities and his own sense of detachment.
Unseen works are also being shown for the first time, such as Tony Lights Up (2016), a photo-essay of a familiar Oxford figure, and Handheld, a series of found objects collected from everyday life. The exhibition also highlights his creative partnership with Baker-Cassidy, whose influence helped shape and present much of his work.
Born and raised in Summertown, Oxford, Summerfield lived in the same house from the age of two until his death. Much of his photography was rooted in Oxford, reflecting his lifelong connection to the city. His practice, however, had wide influence, inspiring a generation of documentary photographers with its exploration of love, loneliness, loss, and desire.
Richard Ovenden, Bodley’s Librarian, said: “Paddy Summerfield was one of the most important British photographers of the last fifty years. Although his work only came to prominence in recent years, he influenced many younger photographers with his deeply personal view of the world around him.”
Timed to coincide with Photo Oxford 2025, the biennial photography festival, The Camera Helps offers the first opportunity to explore Summerfield’s remarkable contribution to British photography in its full breadth.
