I’m delighted to share that my photograph Am I old news? is going to Mall Galleries in London. Hugh Bonneville selected it for the Discerning Eye Exhibition 2026, which opens on 13 November. If you’ve found your way here from the flyer, hello! Here’s a little more about the work, the series it comes from and what you’ll find at the exhibition.
Just a design choice?
The tag around Barbie’s neck says “just a design choice”. Look down at her body and there’s another question. “Do I cause low self esteem?”
I wanted those two lines to sit together. A decision about the shape of a toy can sound like a small thing. But when the same shape keeps turning up as an ideal, it can become one of the ways we learn to look at our own bodies.
The label on her waist takes us back to 1959, when Barbie was introduced and came to embody a slim, glamorous version of beauty. I wanted to put that older ideal next to the way we talk about body image today. Which parts feel dated? Which do we still recognise?
We all bring something different to that pink backdrop. You might remember making up stories with a doll you loved, or looking at her and wondering why the version of beauty you were offered looked so different from you. You might remember both. Our age, background and experiences shape what we see in her, and even our own answer can change over time.
I once lived in a charity shop
Am I old news? is one of 50 works in my series I once lived in a charity shop. Across the series, I photograph familiar objects and use labels to start conversations around them. I’m interested in that moment when you recognise an object straight away, then read a few words that make you look at it again.
With Barbie, I put the questions on the doll herself. She gets to ask some of the things we usually ask about her. The next part of the conversation belongs to whoever is looking. I’d love to know what you noticed first, and whether reading the labels changed what you saw.
The Discerning Eye Exhibition
One of the things I like about this exhibition is that you get six different points of view under one roof. Each selector puts together their own section, so you can walk through the galleries and see how differently six people choose and bring work together.
This year’s selectors are actor Hugh Bonneville, artist and scientist Jasmine Pradissitto, lawyer and collector Jon Sharples, portrait artist Kelvin Okafor, arts editor Martin Robinson, and art critic and economist Mel Gerlis.
Together they chose around 700 works from more than 6,800 entries. There’s painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture and photography, and every piece is 50 cm or less in each dimension. It’s a show that rewards getting close, which feels especially fitting for a photograph where the smallest details carry so much of the story. All the works are available to buy.
Come and see it in London
Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1
13 to 21 November 2026 · 10am to 5pm
Free admission. No booking required.
If you make it to the show, I’d love to hear what caught your eye. You can find me on Instagram at @victoriaboam. Exhibition details
