V&A - 17th August 2013

The collection at the V&A shows photography from its beginnings through to more recent times.  Essentially, it shows a history of photography, in terms of both processes and styles, without any current and contemporary work.

Some of the early works on display showed rather painterly qualities.  I got this impression not just from the grainy appearance, but also the subject matter and composition.  'The Old Farmhouse' by Francis Bedford, for example, can easily be imagined as a painting.  Somewhat surprising then that 'Figures at the Fountain of Sultan Ahmet III, Istanbul' by James Robertson and Felice Beato was taken seven years earlier, in 1853.  The detail in a photo taken at this period in time genuinely amazes me.  In contrast, Peter Henry Emerson intentionally created images that were not sharp and detailed throughout, to create a look similar to Impressionist painting.  He did indeed collaborate with a painter, creating publications on rural life.  'In the Haysel' is the Emerson image displayed at the V&A, and it certainly achieves his aim of creating a "painting style" of photograph.

Another image that stood out for me was 'The Cloud' by Alvin Langdon Coburn, taken in 1906.  Simple yet effective.  He explored the design concept of 'notan', involving balancing light and dark proportionally.  Perhaps there is some symbolic message, with the light cloud emerging for the dark, or dark cloud covering the light.

Moving on to the late 40s / early 50s, a couple of photos by Robert Doisneau caught my eye.  'Café Noir et Blanc' and 'Le Petit Balcon' are light hearted, and poignant observation of human emotions, in which you can sense contrasting moods of different people within the images.  In 'Le Petit Balcon', for example, the amusement on the faces of several of the prominent figures is tempered by the sad and wistful expression on the face of the lady sitting on the floor.  You assume from her clothing that she is involved in whatever performance the crowd are watching, and wonder what her involvement is and why she is sitting there.

For me, the most impressive images were those of Man Ray.  Taken in 1931, as a commission for The Paris Electricity Company, the images seem well ahead of their time, and have clearly influenced many modern practitioners who have the benefit of considerably more advanced equipment and photoshop.  As well as creating images that could be considered contemporary now, they clearly represent the subject he was tasked with, electricity.

As well as enjoying this collection, I had a good look around the museum and found that it is an excellent place to observe people, and watch them observing.  Something to keep in mind for the next module on People and Places!