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Ten photographs taken for the V&A Annual Report 2012/13

Photograph
2013 (photographed), 2014 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Nigel Shafran is a self-taught photographer. He started his career as a fashion photographer in New York in the 1980s and has since turned to fine art photography. Shafran's work has been exhibited worldwide and is held in a number of art collections including Nottingham Castle Art Gallery and Museum and the Arts Council Collection. Shafran's work captures the intimacy and mundanity of everyday subjects by developing a narrative through the careful sequencing of images. His photographs are quietly attentive, seeking out the evocative spaces between the obvious and the conventionally illustrative.

Shafran has a close relationship with the V&A and used the Museum as the subject for a series of photographs taken in 1999. This new body of work, taken fifteen years later, complements the existing images and visually charts the development of the museum over this period. Moreover, the series has historical significance as it provides an interesting contrast to earlier 19th century representations of the South Kensington Museum that are held in the collection.

Shafran was commissioned by the museum to take a series of photographs for the V&A’s Annual Report 2013/14. The photographs offer an alternative view of the museum building, its staff and visitors. The photographs are a combination of the familiar and the unfamiliar. The photographs record everyday scenes that offer an honest and recognisable narrative; from a tray of used crockery on an empty table in the museum café to a group of schoolchildren on an educational visit. Shafran’s photographs offer a glimpse into the many roles adopted by the museum and provide a candid representation of museum life, one that provides an interesting contrast to earlier representations carried out by museum photographers including Charles Thurston Thompson and Isabel Cowper.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleTen photographs taken for the V&A Annual Report 2012/13 (series title)
Materials and techniques
Digital inkjet print
Brief description
Photograph by Nigel Shafran from the series 'Ten photographs taken for the V&A Annual Report 2012/13'
Physical description
Photograph from the series 'Ten photographs taken for the V&A Annual Report 2012/13'. Shafran photographed areas of the Museum that are not usually focused on.
Dimensions
  • Image height: 508mm
  • Image width: 677mm
Gallery label
Photo London: Beneath the Surface Somerset House, May 20 - August 24, 2015 Nigel Shafran (born 1964) From the series 'Ten Photographs taken for the V&A Annual Report 2012/13', printed 2014 The V&A commissioned Shafran to take a series of photographs for its Annual Report. Navigating between the galleries, study rooms, service areas, offices and stores of the Museum he developed an archaeology of the building showing the traces of its use. Whether made in public spaces or behind the scenes, his quietly attentive photographs unveil the sculptural qualities of the everyday, and offer a candid representation of the Museum’s working life. Digital inkjet prints Purchased through the Cecil Beaton Royalties Fund V&A Museum nos. E.7 to 10-2015; E.12 to 14-2015 (28-04-2015)
Credit line
Given by Nigel Shafran
Object history
The photographs were purchased directly from the artist
Place depicted
Association
Summary
Nigel Shafran is a self-taught photographer. He started his career as a fashion photographer in New York in the 1980s and has since turned to fine art photography. Shafran's work has been exhibited worldwide and is held in a number of art collections including Nottingham Castle Art Gallery and Museum and the Arts Council Collection. Shafran's work captures the intimacy and mundanity of everyday subjects by developing a narrative through the careful sequencing of images. His photographs are quietly attentive, seeking out the evocative spaces between the obvious and the conventionally illustrative.

Shafran has a close relationship with the V&A and used the Museum as the subject for a series of photographs taken in 1999. This new body of work, taken fifteen years later, complements the existing images and visually charts the development of the museum over this period. Moreover, the series has historical significance as it provides an interesting contrast to earlier 19th century representations of the South Kensington Museum that are held in the collection.

Shafran was commissioned by the museum to take a series of photographs for the V&A’s Annual Report 2013/14. The photographs offer an alternative view of the museum building, its staff and visitors. The photographs are a combination of the familiar and the unfamiliar. The photographs record everyday scenes that offer an honest and recognisable narrative; from a tray of used crockery on an empty table in the museum café to a group of schoolchildren on an educational visit. Shafran’s photographs offer a glimpse into the many roles adopted by the museum and provide a candid representation of museum life, one that provides an interesting contrast to earlier representations carried out by museum photographers including Charles Thurston Thompson and Isabel Cowper.
Associated objects
Bibliographic reference
V&A Annual Report 2012/13
Collection
Accession number
E.32-2015

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Record createdFebruary 16, 2015
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