This luxury London hotel has been taken over by iconic celebrity portraits – and you can see them for free

The Corinthia London has turned itself into an unexpected gallery space, hosting a month-long photography takeover showcasing some of the most famous faces in film, music and pop culture. The exhibition, Look At Me: Framing The Iconic, celebrates the work of legendary portrait photographer Lorenzo Agius, a man responsible for imagery that helped define how we remember entire eras of celebrity.

And, unusually for an exhibition packed with this level of star power, you can wander in for free.

Agius has spent more than 30 years photographing actors, musicians and cultural heavyweights, but his most culturally embedded work might still be the imagery surrounding Trainspotting. The stripped-back, confrontational portraits created for the film’s promotional campaign became instant visual shorthand for a generation of British cinema.

Since then, his lens has documented an extraordinary cross-section of global fame, capturing subjects in a way that leans less towards glossy perfection and more towards personality. His portraits tend to sit somewhere between vulnerability and swagger, often both at once.

Rather than being confined to a traditional and stuffy gallery room, 44 large-scale prints have been installed throughout the Corinthia’s public spaces, turning the building into something closer to an open exhibition trail. The photographs are suspended within the interiors, allowing visitors to circle the works and view them from multiple angles, an approach that feels deliberately designed to mirror the larger-than-life presence of the subjects themselves.

Visitors will encounter portraits of Hollywood royalty and music legends, including Madonna, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington and Jack Nicholson. British film icons are equally well represented, with appearances from Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Helena Bonham Carter, Tilda Swinton and Ewan McGregor, alongside rock’n’roll representation from Liam Gallagher.

Even if you don’t immediately recognise Agius’ name, chances are you’ll recognise several of the images themselves, many of which have long since become embedded in pop culture.

Despite the five-star surroundings, the exhibition is deliberately accessible. Visitors are free to explore the installations scattered throughout the hotel’s shared spaces, making it one of the more low-pressure cultural experiences currently running in central London.

There’s only a short window to catch it, though. The portraits are on display for February only, meaning it’s very much a blink-and-you-miss-it addition to London’s awards season buzz.

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