V&A’s completed Photography Centre opens with flames, rockets and snake-like Hoovers

The much-anticipated second and final phase of the V&A Photography Centre in London will open its doors on 25 May 2023, becoming the largest space in the UK to house a permanent photography collection. 

Phase One of the museum’s Photography Centre was unveiled in 2018, with three galleries designed by David Kohn. This month sees the completion of the centre with an additional four galleries, designed by Purcell, and Gibson Thornley Architects. Two of the new rooms will be dedicated to global contemporary photography and commissions in rotating displays, while another space will focus on photography and the book, and a further, interactive gallery will explore the history of photography and the camera, spotlighting various approaches to process and presentation. 

The opening displays will include recent acquisitions shown at the museum for the first time, among them works by Liz Johnson Artur, Sammy Baloji, Vera Lutter, Tarrah Krajnak and Vasantha Yogananthan, as well as a monumental photographic sculpture by Noémie Goudal. Highlights include Jo Spence’s seductive, snake-like Hoover, Vinca Petersen’s flaming Riot Girl (1998), Hoda Afshar's extraordinary landscapes, and Paul Mpagi Sepuya’s ever-intriguing explorations of the relationship between subject and camera. 

Two major new commissions will also be unveiled, with a photographic series by Indian artist Gauri Gill, and work by British media artist Jake Elwes, the first in a series of commissions supported by the Manitou Fund. The first themed exhibition ‘Energy: Sparks from the Collection’, explores how all photographs require some form of energy to exist, and a smaller display, ‘How Not to Photograph a Bulldog’, features dog photography manuals from the Royal Photographic Society Library. 

The V&A’s relationship with photography dates back to the 1850s, when early pioneers in the medium were shown. Since then, it has amassed one of the largest and most varied collections in the world, holdings which will now be on public view within the completed centre. ‘Photography lies at the heart of the V&A. The museum has collected photography since 1852 and continues to acquire the best of contemporary practice,’ commented Marta Weiss, V&A senior curator of photography and lead curator of Phase Two of the Photography Centre. ‘As photography plays an ever-increasing role in all our lives, the expanded Photography Centre will be more relevant than ever. We look forward to welcoming visitors to explore the medium’s diverse histories and enjoy our world-leading collection.’

The completed V&A Photography Centre will be open to the public from 25 May 2023. vam.ac.uk