Just a short walk from our Chiltern Street apothecary, Atlas Gallery has been championing fine art photography for more than three decades, Brendan talks with founder Ben Burdett about photography, memory and the emotional pull of water.
There are some experiences that instantly transport us. A familiar scent drifting through warm air. The first glimpse of the sea after a long journey. Sunlight dancing across water.
It's no coincidence that fragrance and photography share this remarkable ability to unlock memory.
This summer, Atlas Gallery's latest exhibition, Splash, brings together more than fifty works exploring our enduring relationship with water. From Hiroshi Sugimoto's contemplative seascapes and Bill Brandt's dramatic British coastlines to Martin Parr's joyful beach scenes and Karine Laval's dreamlike underwater worlds, the exhibition celebrates the universal emotions that water evokes: freedom, nostalgia, escape and reflection.
When we visited Ben Burdett, owner of Atlas Gallery on Chiltern Street, our conversation quickly moved beyond photography and towards something more universal: why certain images stay with us for a lifetime.
"I didn't come into photography through art school," Ben tells us. "I studied English, travelled for a couple of years, did a little travel journalism and, honestly, had no real idea what I wanted to do."
His route into photography began unexpectedly through the antiquarian book trade. Working with rare books introduced him to nineteenth-century photography, and under the guidance of a generous employer, he was given the freedom to buy photographs for the business. It was there that his education truly began.
"I spent years simply looking," he says. "That was my education."
Today, Atlas Gallery is internationally recognised for its collection of historic and contemporary photography, but Ben believes his greatest lessons never came from textbooks.
"I developed my eye by looking. Constantly. I trusted my instincts. The more photographs you see, the more your understanding evolves."
That philosophy extends beyond photography.
"Instinct is the key to everything," he says. "Not just collecting art, but making decisions in life. Ultimately, you're the one who has to live with those decisions, so you have to trust yourself."
It's advice he offers to anyone considering their first collection.
"People often worry they don't have enough knowledge or that they don't have 'good taste', but taste develops by looking. Visit galleries, look at books and spend time with photographs."
Photography, he believes, is one of the most welcoming ways to begin collecting art.
"People often already know the photographs they love, they've seen them in books, magazines or exhibitions, but they don't necessarily realise those images can become part of their own lives. Photography is incredibly accessible. You can begin with something you genuinely connect with."
At the heart of Splash is the idea that water is far more than a landscape.
"Water is one of those subjects that immediately unlocks memory," Ben explains. "Everyone has their own version of it—childhood holidays, swimming, beaches, long summer afternoons."
The exhibition moves effortlessly between different interpretations of those shared memories. Hiroshi Sugimoto's seascapes become almost meditations, reducing the world to nothing more than sea and sky. Bill Brandt's British coastlines carry an entirely different atmosphere - dramatic, elemental and timeless. Martin Parr's beaches are full of humour and humanity, while Karine Laval's dreamlike underwater photographs allow memory to dissolve into colour and light.
For Ben, that's precisely what makes water such an enduring subject.
"Water means different things to different artists. For some it's leisure, for others it's solitude, reflection or mystery."
That breadth of interpretation runs throughout the exhibition. Fashion photography by Terence Donovan and Patrick Demarchelier sits alongside Mandy Barker's powerful environmental works, reminding us of the fragility of our oceans. Ernst Haas transforms swimmers into almost painterly abstractions, while Andreas Gefeller's aerial views of beaches encourage us to see familiar landscapes from an entirely new perspective.
What unites every image isn't simply water, but emotion.
"The photographs we collect aren't just pictures," Ben says. "They're places you want to enter. You love the picture because you want to be part of it. It's not just about having something beautiful on the wall - it's about feeling emotionally connected."
It's a sentiment that feels remarkably close to the way we think about fragrance at Anatome. Before we understand the notes or ingredients, we simply know how something makes us feel. A scent can transport us to another place just as powerfully as a photograph can. Both have an extraordinary ability to awaken memories we didn't even realise we were carrying.
As our conversation drew to a close, we asked Ben what continues to draw him to the coast.
"For me, it's the horizon," he says. "That point where the sea meets the sky. There's something incredibly calming about it. It gives you perspective. It reminds you there's always something much bigger than yourself."
Perhaps that's what both great photography and great fragrance offer us - a moment to pause, breathe and reconnect with the memories that quietly shape who we are.
As we stepped back onto Chiltern Street, it struck us how closely fragrance and photography are connected. Neither simply records a moment; both preserve a feeling. Whether it's the scent of sea air or the image of a distant horizon, they remind us that memory often begins with the senses.
Splash is on view at Atlas Gallery, Chiltern Street, Marylebone, bringing together works by Hiroshi Sugimoto, Bill Brandt, Martin Parr, Karine Laval, Ernst Haas, Mandy Barker, Andreas Gefeller, Terence Donovan, Patrick Demarchelier and many others. It's a celebration of water not simply as a subject, but as a universal language of memory, emotion and escape.
If you're in Marylebone this summer, it's well worth stepping inside.
Splash
Atlas Gallery
49 Dorset Street, Marylebone, London W1
9 June – 29 August 2026
