The Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London has announced that the second phase of its Photography Centre will open on 25 May 2023. The centre will be the largest space in the UK for a permanent photography collection and will feature seven galleries, four of which will be new.

The V&A has one of the largest and most varied collections of photography in the world and has been collecting and exhibiting the medium since the museum's founding in the 1850s. The new galleries will focus on global contemporary photography, the photography book, the history and use of the camera, and digital media. For example, Room 95 will be an interactive gallery exploring how cameras work and how they are used, from the Victorian view camera to the first iPhone. It's no surprise that Room 101 will be named The Sir Elton John and David Furnish Gallery given the singer's prolific collection of photography and his support of the V&A's photographic exhibitions in the past.

The centre's opening displays will include works by Liz Johnson Artur, Sammy Baloji, Vera Lutter, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Tarrah Krajnak, and Vasantha Yogananthan, as well as commissioned works by Indian artist Gauri Gill and British media artist Jake Elwes. Looks like we'll have to wait until the summer to truly understand the scale of a fascinating new gathering of visual culture in London and the UK.