Blogs

DCMS has published the V&A Museum's annual report and accounts for 2025-26. Of particular interest are that the Julia Margaret Cameron touring exhibition Arresting Beauty which featured 98 objects from the RPS Collection and V&A's collection was seen by 106,000 people when it was shown at The Morgan Library & Museum, New York.

The RPS digitisation project The rerport also acknowledges the support for the RPS digitisation project from TheBern Schwartz Family Foundation, The William Brake Foundation and The Ampersand Foundation, among others.

In terms of the museum's collection it records it holds approximately 250,000 objects from the Royal Photographic Society Collection, although the reports notes that the Collection is yet to be fully catalogued.

Read the full rpeort here

The V&A has created a range of PhD placements based in collections departments, archives, the National Art Library, research, and collections care and access to support the professional development of PhD researchers across the UK and internationally. In addition to on-the-job experience and mentoring from supervisors, PhD placement students will have access to the Museum’s wider range of workshops, talks and postgraduate training opportunities, alongside a training package designed for the PhD placement cohort. Depending on the project, placements may combine onsite and remote work, with the exact working pattern agreed between the student and placement supervisors.

This placement will explore the V&A’s collection of photographs documenting the construction of the 1862 Exhibition building, designed by Captain Francis Fowke and formerly located on the site now occupied by the Natural History Museum and Science Museum. The collection includes approximately 260 photographs, comprising images commissioned by the Department of Science and Art during construction and photographs of the completed building contained within Spackmann’s scrapbook. These materials provide a valuable resource for understanding the technical and social history of the building but remain relatively understudied.

The placement researcher will investigate the potential of the photographic collection through close analysis and primary and secondary source research. Working with V&A researchers and curators, the student will explore the construction process, architectural techniques, and social history documented by the photographs, including evidence of labour practices, prefabrication, and the role of the Royal Engineers. The project may also consider the potential for visual or 3D reconstruction of the building and will contribute to the V&A’s understanding and future public presentation of this important collection.

V&A PhD Placement – A Visual Narrative: Photography and the Construction of the 1862 Building
Apply immediately - no set expiry date
No salary
Supported by Simona Valeriani, Ella Ravilious, and Patrizia Di Bello
See details here

In the V&A's continuing series of monthly blogs this latest post presents the archivist's view from Federica Beretta, the Royal Photographic Society Project Archivist. She reports on her progress unpacking and making sense of the documents, journals, correspondence and ephemera that make up the RPS Collection.

See:

2. Royal Photographic Society work in progress: the archivist’s perspective
1. Introducing the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) Project

Image: RPS ephemera: a collection of leaflets, private view cards and other documents from the early years to the 2000s. Image: Federica Beretta

The V&A Museum has launched a new monthly blog focused on the RPS Collection project which aims to 'offer insight into our approach, share discoveries from the project, and explore how the museum’s stewardship of the collection will foster creative connections and inspire new narratives.' The first, written by Dr Erika Lederman, gives an overview of the project and where it is at as part of a five-year cataloguing and digitisation programme. The RPS project now has 16 staff working on it from across departments in the Museum, plus 38 volunteers and 2 MA students. 

Erike concludes: 'The increased visibility of the collection has already resulted in increased loans and displays and some innovative research, which we will feature in future posts. We are looking forward to sharing stories, revealing exciting discoveries, and presenting new narratives as the project develops.'

Read the full blog here: https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/projects/introducing-the-royal-photographic-society-rps-project