New photos exhibition heading to V&A

A NEW exhibition at the V&A will focus on photography and its impact on the urban world.

Co-curated by V&A Dundee and V&A South Kensington, the exhibition uses the V&A’s spectacular photography collections to explore the ways photography and cities have influenced each other.

Marking 10 years of Dundee’s designation as the only Unesco City of Design, Photo City: How Images Shape the Urban World aims to show that photography does more than document and reflect city life. The creators claim that as a design tool photography shapes our understanding of cities and helps us project future ways of living together.

V&A Dundee curator Meredith More said: “This brings two themes together – photography and cities and explores the development of both cities and photography through the 19th and 20th centuries, and right up to today.

“Visitors will have the chance to see iconic city photography by some of the most acclaimed photographers in history, and discover how these influenced the way cities are designed and experienced.

“They will also encounter exciting work by contemporary architects, photographers and artists who question the ways images shape and mediate our daily lives.

“The exhibition also expands on the idea of what photography is by including contemporary imaging technologies such as GPS, drones, gaming technology and lidar scanning.

“A highlight is a new portrait of Dundee commissioned for the exhibition, it is a huge aerial view of the city made up of thousands of collaged photographs taken in the summer of 2023. Dundee is the latest city in Japanese photographer Sohei Nishino’s ambitious Diorama Map series, which also includes New York, Paris, London, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro.”

The exhibition runs March 29 to October 27.