Shadow Catchers at the V and A

You know how sometimes you go to see an exhibition, and it changes the way you think about something, and it makes you so excited to go and do something, to create something, because you feel so totally inspired? Well that's how I felt after going to see the Shadow Catchers exhibition at the V and A a few weeks ago. I persuaded my Mum to come with me by promising to go look at the Edwardian clothing with her after.

I'd read a bit about the exhibition beforehand as part of my studies, as I'd been playing around with photograms, a form of cameraless photography which is what the exhibition is about. But seeing these pieces, some of which are huge beyond comprehension, in real life was just incredible. Five European artists, all of which are specialists in the field of cameraless photography, were hand-picked by the V and A based on the individual nature of their work. (you can read more about the exhibition here.)

My particular favourites were Susan Derges' pieces, which were created by submerging sheets of photographic paper under a river at night and then exposing them with a flashgun, thus capturing the movement of the water on the paper. I also fell completely in love with Adam Fuss' 'My Ghost' series, which are all ethereal and ghostly, but utterly beautiful and astonishing. Below are a few pieces from the exhibit.








We spent the rest of the day wandering the museum, before heading over to the Natural History Museum to have a look at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit.

completely obsessed with these, but not entirely sure what they are...

and this quote sums up how I feel right now....

So if you live in or near London I urge you to check out the Shadow Catchers exhibit - you won't be disappointed. It will change the way you think about photography.