Top image: Naked man walking down a set of stairs on his hands, 1887, from Animal Locomotion by Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The Victoria and Albert Museum has announced the expansion of its extensive collection of historic and contemporary photography, due to open in Autumn 2018.

The new Photography Centre will double up the actual size of the V&A photography display area, with the addition of over 270,000 photographs, 26,000 publications and 6,000 pieces of camera-related material. Designed by David Kohn Architects, this impressive extension will allow the museum to showcase a vast number of photographic material and facilitate the organisation of more events, teaching and research areas. Phase two of the project will also include an expansion of the gallery with the realisation of a studio and a darkroom.

This new extension will house the Royal Photographic Society collection which is being moved from the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford. The decision to transfer the collection from Bradford to London has been met with many claiming that London is stealing cultural capital from the north of England and creating an exclusive cultural hub. Local Bradford politicians have described the move as an act of “cultural rape of the city.”

The inauguration of this new area of the V&M Museum will be accompanied by a museum-wide photography festival in Autumn 2018.