Today I visited the History of Photography display at the V&A (before viewing the excellent Postmodernism exhibition). This image by Kate E. Gough really surprised me. Firstly, I hadn’t realised how early artists had begun experimenting with photo collage. This image was made in 1855. Apparently, Victorian ladies (mostly) enjoyed creating alternative family albums by mixing collaged photographs with water colour and other media. This work, in particular, struck me as very modern, reminiscent of the later Dadaist photo collages of Hannah Hoch and the Surrealists.

I thought the display was very informative, arranged as it was in broad thematic and historical groups and featuring the work of Julia Margaret Cameron and Henri Cartier-Bresson. It would certainly make the basis of a very useful school trip.

Watch this space!