Photography
Features
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Photographic processesFind out about the processes and techniques used to create the photographs in our collection
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Pamela Bone: a quietly radical photographerExploring the experimental, and spiritually attuned photographic practice of quietly radical artist, Pamela Bone
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Photographing the American SouthWhat all these photographers had in common was a desire to understand the American South – its people, its places, its histories, and possible futures
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A tree story – a celebration of trees in photography
Take a meditative journey into the woods
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Staying Power: Photographs of Black British Experience
Staying Power aims to raise awareness of the contribution of black Britons to British culture and society, as well as to the art of photography
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100 years of nature photography
Take a spectacular journey through the history of nature photography
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Colour photography at the V&A
Explore our vast and varied collection of colour photographs
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A brief history of ghosts and spirit photographyFind out about the Victorian obsession with seances, spiritualism and capturing ghosts
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'Zabat' – photographs by Maud SulterMaud Sulter's powerful photographic portraits celebrate the cultural achievements of Black British women
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Take a photo with a Victorian sliding box camera: ASMR
Watch and listen as we demonstrate how it would have been used
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Cameraless photography
Discover this experimental, radical and often revelatory form of vision
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A brief history of vampires – in print, photography and posters
Discover, if you dare, how Count Dracula haunts the V&A's collections
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Off Pointe: Behind-the-scenes photography of the Royal Ballet by Mary McCartney
'Off Pointe' by Mary McCartney captures intimate moments of Royal Ballet dancers behind-the-scenes
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The puzzle of portraits: Francis Williams and Vanley Burke
Explore two important portraits separated by three centuries
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Alfred Stieglitz – pioneer of modern photography"Photography fascinated me, first as a toy, then as a passion, then as an obsession."
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Shooting Concorde
Photographer Hélène Binet captures the iconic Concorde on film
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The camera as star
Photographs curator Marta Weiss turns the focus on the camera itself with 10 highlights from the Camera Exposed display
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Feminist perspectives in American photographs -
The making of an iconic image: Christine Keeler, 1963
A political scandal, a chair, a photograph. Discover the making of an iconic image.
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Surrealist photography
Discover strange shapes, floating body parts and bizarre landscapes...
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Tim Walker's love letter to the V&A
We joined Tim Walker on some shoots for his latest project...
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The real Alice in Wonderland
Meet Alice Liddell, Lewis Carroll's muse and inspiration
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Wonderful Things: the making of an exhibition
Hear how the magical Tim Walker: Wonderful Things exhibition took shape
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Lady Clementina Hawarden – an introduction
Discover a prolific yet enigmatic early photographer
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Real Beauty: photography by Jodi Bieber
Photographer Jodi Bieber invited women to pose in their own homes, dressed in their underwear, for her series Real Beauty
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Grace Robertson: life and work
Grace Robertson was a pioneering photographer who captured the every-day lives of British women
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About the Known & Strange display
Discover some of today's most compelling achievements in contemporary photography
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Maurice Broomfield – an introduction
Meet Britain's premier industrial photographer
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Talking photography: Maurice Broomfield
Listen to Britain's premier industrial photographer talk about some of his most iconic work
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Studio, street and style: the photography of James Barnor
Meet the pioneering portrait photographer James Barnor
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100 years of fashion photography
Discover the key trends in fashion photography over the last 100 years
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Photographing masculinities: gender, identity and the gaze
Look through the lens of female and non-binary photographers in our collection
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Clicking the shutter on Paneth's plate camera: ASMR
Experience the camera like photographer Friedrich Paneth would have done
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Photographing the 'Great Eastern'
Discover Robert Howlett's iconic photographs of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the ill-fated 'Great Eastern'
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Family, photography, memories: Africa Fashion
Find out about the personal stories and unique fashion histories from individuals across the continent
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Unboxing an Edwardian photographic enlarger: ASMRListen in as we set it up
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Great images | Misty and Joey at Hornstrasse by Nan GoldinIn an era of smartphone cameras we can all take photographs, but what makes an image 'great'?
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Collecting photography – Personal reflections from Sir Elton John and David Furnish"I love painters, I love artwork, I collect paintings, but for me nothing speaks the truth more like a photograph."
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Unboxing weird and wonderful nature photographyTake a journey through some of our quirkier nature images
Collection highlights
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'Self Evident', C-type print, by Ingrid Pollard, 1995, printed 2013, Brighton, EnglandV&A South Kensington -
'The Garden II', chromogenic print, by Siân Davey, 2021V&A South Kensington -
Lace, salted paper print, by William Henry Fox Talbot, early 1840s, BritainV&A South Kensington -
'The Break', Nermine Hammam, inkjet print, 2011V&A East Storehouse -
'Disconnected', inkjet print, by Marvel Harris, 2018, the NetherlandsV&A South Kensington -
'The Angel at the Tomb', photograph, by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1870, Isle of Wight, EnglandV&A South Kensington -
'View of the Raphael Cartoons Galleries at the South Kensington Museum', albumen print, by Isabel Agnes Cowper, about 1873V&A South Kensington -
'Lily Cole and Giant Camera', inkjet print, by Tim Walker, 2004. Museum no. E.1140-2008V&A South Kensington -
'Boys smoking, Portland Road, April 15 1956', gelatin silver print, by Roger Mayne, 1956, London, EnglandV&A South Kensington -
'Tree Peony' from Some Japanese Flowers Vol. I, collotype with lithographic overprinting in colour, by Kazumasa Ogawa, 1894, JapanV&A South Kensington -
'Columbia and Western #3', from the series 'Westward, the Course of Empire', by Mark Ruwedel, 1999V&A South Kensington -
'The Earring', photograph, by Madame Yevonde, about 1936, UK
