The V&A Parasol Foundation Prize for Women in Photography
Identifying, supporting, and championing innovative women artists working in the field of contemporary photography
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Photography
In 1852, the V&A became one of the first museums to acquire photographs for its collections, holding its inaugural photography exhibition in 1858. Today, the collection is one of the most important in the world with approximately 800,000 images dating from the 1820s to the present day, and including examples of work from William Henry Fox Talbot, Julia Margaret Cameron, Cecil Beaton, Eadweard Muybridge and many more.
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 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, 1999 -
'The Earring', photograph, by Madame Yevonde, about 1936, UK
