I
was first approached by the V&A
back in the Summer, when they asked if I would be interested in
running a six-week Creative Photography Course at the Museum. The
course itinerary was left up to me, so I had the perfect excuse to
while away some time at the Museum, thinking about what I
would like to do. Although I had been to the V&A a number of
times before, I hadn't ever had, or taken, the time to trawl the
seven and a half miles of corridor and look, in detail, at the
photographs, paintings, sculptures and artifacts on display.
When I visited the History
of Photography
exhibition in Room 101, I was fascinated by the photographs of the
Museum taken by Charles Thurston Thompson and Isabel Cowper. To give
some background, in 1856 Sir Henry Cole, the first director of the
V&A (then the South Kensington Museum) appointed his
brother-in-law Charles Thurston Thompson as a Museum Photographer. He
understood how photography could extend the reach of the Museum and,
with this, the first museum photographic service was born.
Thurston
Thompson was supported by non-commissioned military officers of the
Royal Engineers, whom he trained in photography. When he died
suddenly, his sister, Isabel Agnes Cowper, took over his post
(probably the first woman to hold such a role).
Museum
photographers captured the permanent collection and temporary
exhibitions, recorded the condition of artworks and travelled abroad
to document art and architecture. They also photographed the
construction and expansion of the Museum. Their images provide a
valuable insight into the development of the 19th-century Museum and
have since become works of art in their own right.
Charles Thurston Thompson, 'Exhibition of the Photographic Society of London and the Société française de photographie at the South Kensington Museum, 1858' © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Isabel Agnes Cowper, 'Upper loggia of the Science Schools looking towards the Albert Hall c.1872' © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
When
it came to putting together a plan for the course, I felt that I wanted
to do something that would explore, and reference, the rich history
of the Museum, and something that would live beyond the duration of
the course itself. I decided to use the work of the originial Museum Photographers as a starting point (more to follow soon...)
