Charles Thurston Thompson was the V&A's first Official Museum Photographer, in charge of the Museum's photographic operations from 1856 until his death in 1868. In addition to photographing museum objects and objects on loan, he also photographed great works of art and architecture on dedicated photographic campaigns abroad. These photographs were made in 1867 during Thurston Thompson's photographic campaign in Spain and Portugal.

Photographs such as these were originally collected in the National Art Library and were used as reference material and inspiration for artists and scholars. They were also available for sale to the public through a dedicated sales stall on site at the Museum.

After Thurston Thompson's death, a selection of the photographs of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella in Spain was published in a bound volume by the Arundel Society, sanctioned by the Science and Art Department, (under the authority of which the V&A was originally established). Copies of these volumes were circulated among the national schools of art and design, and were also sold to the public. There are four copies of this volume in the V&A collection and National Art Library.

In addition to the four bound albums, the V&A also has a collection of loose plates, including many images not in the bound volumes. The various stamps and presentation formats demonstrate the multiple ways photographs circulated not only throughout the museum, but to the larger community of scholars, artists and connoisseurs.