The V&A announces a new Photography Centre in London

Designed by David Kohn Architects, the new centre will open in Autumn 2018 and more than double the V&A’s current photography exhibition space. The opening will be accompanied by a museum-wide photography festival, a new digital resource, and a new history of photography course run with the Royal College of Art.
The V&A plans to run events and activities in the new centre, and will continue to expand the facility. Phase Two will see the museum add more gallery space, and create a teaching and research facility, a browsing library, and a studio and darkroom which will enable photographers’ residencies.
The new centre comes as the V&A transfers the Royal Photographic Society’s collection from the Science Museum Group, which was formerly held in the National Media Museum in Bradford. The transfer adds over 270,000 photographs, 26,000 publications, and 6000 pieces of equipment to the V&A’s holdings – which was already one of the largest and most important in the world, including around 500,000 works collected since the foundation of the museum in 1852.

Poppy from Cyanotypes of British and Foreign Flowering Plants and Ferns, 1852-4 by Anna Atkins (1799-1871) © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Poppy from Cyanotypes of British and Foreign Flowering Plants and Ferns, 1852-4 by Anna Atkins (1799-1871) © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Still Life with Fruit and Decanter, 1860 by Roger Fenton (1819-69). Albumen print © The RPS Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Still Life with Fruit and Decanter, 1860 by Roger Fenton (1819-69). Albumen print © The RPS Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The RPS collection includes work by key historical figures such as William Henry Fox Talbot, Roger Fenton, Julia Margaret Cameron, Alfred Stieglitz, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Paul Strand, and many more, plus ground-breaking photographic equipment. It also features contemporary works by leading British photographers such as Sir Don McCullin, Martin Parr and Mark Power.
Purpose-built storage facilities will house the V&A’s expanded holdings, and an extensive project to digitise the RPS collection is now underway. While not on display, prints can be accessed in the V&A’s Prints & Drawings Study Room by appointment on Tuesday – Friday.
John Frederick William Herschel, 1867 by Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79). Albumen print © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
John Frederick William Herschel, 1867 by Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79). Albumen print
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The Break, 2011 by Nermine Hammam (b. 1967). Archival inkjet print © Nermine Hammam/Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The Break, 2011 by Nermine Hammam (b. 1967). Archival inkjet print © Nermine Hammam/Victoria and Albert Museum, London
“The transfer of the RPS collection is a catalyst for a dramatic reimagining of the way in which photography is presented at the V&A,” says Martin Barnes, senior curator of photographs at the V&A. “It will enable a major expansion of spaces, programme and infrastructure, creating a world centre for our visitors to enjoy, as well as an accessible resource for academic research and scholarship.

“The V&A’s Photography Centre will be one of the few places in the world where a chronological history of the medium illustrated with original photographs, equipment and archive material can always be seen. We want to reach beyond restrictive definitions of photography to embrace the broader cultures of the medium.
“We have exciting plans for the combined collections that celebrate the fine art of photography alongside its technology and look forward to working closely with the RPS on this.”
www.vam.ac.uk
Naked man walking down a set of stairs on his hands, 1887, from Animal Locomotion by Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904). Collotype © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Naked man walking down a set of stairs on his hands, 1887, from Animal Locomotion by Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904). Collotype © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The Steerage, 1907 (print 1915) by Alfred Stieglitz. Photogravure © Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Gift of the Georgia O'Keefe Foundation
The Steerage, 1907 (print 1915) by Alfred Stieglitz. Photogravure © Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Gift of the Georgia O’Keefe Foundation
Portrait of Gabrielle ('Coco') Chanel, 1937 by Horst P. Horst (1906-1999). Gelatin silver print © The Horst Estate/Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Portrait of Gabrielle (‘Coco’) Chanel, 1937 by Horst P. Horst (1906-1999). Gelatin silver print
© The Horst Estate/Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Queen Elizabeth II, Coronation Day 1953 by Cecil Beaton (1904-80). Gelatin silver print © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Queen Elizabeth II, Coronation Day 1953 by Cecil Beaton (1904-80). C-type print, printed in 1987
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Reguliersbreestraat, Amsterdam About 1934 by Bernard Eilers (1878 – 1951). Foto-chroma Eilers, a short-lived colour separation technique © Bernard Eilers/Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Reguliersbreestraat, Amsterdam
About 1934 by Bernard Eilers (1878 – 1951). Foto-chroma Eilers, a short-lived colour separation technique © Bernard Eilers/Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Diane Smyth

Diane Smyth is the editor of BJP, returning for a second stint on staff in 2023 - after 15 years on the team until 2019. As a freelancer, she has written for The Guardian, FT Weekend Magazine, Creative Review, Aperture, FOAM, Aesthetica and Apollo. She has also curated exhibitions for institutions such as The Photographers Gallery and Lianzhou Foto Festival. You can follow her on instagram @dismy