Marta Weiss is the lead curator of the Victoria & Albert Photography Centre, completed in 2023 in London. In this episode, we talked about her studies at Harvard and Princeton and her projects as Curator of Photography at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London since 2007. We discussed developments she has observed in the field of museum photography, such as the integration of photography into permanent spaces like at MoMA, but not yet at the V&A, and the importance of the acquisition group, which not only enables more acquisitions but also takes on new roles, such as organizing events and travels with patrons. She also gave us some advice for people who want to become curators in a museum like her. I hope you enjoy this episode!
1:44 – Her childhood and her love of visiting museums.
4:15 – Her studies at Harvard in art and her internships in museums in the USA and Europe.
10:15 – Her job as a photo editor for a graphic design company and her dissertation at Princeton on 19th-century British photography, staged photography, and photo albums from the late 1830s to 1870. She spent two years in the UK for her PhD and conducted archival research at the V&A in the print room.
14:20 – Her job at the V&A, the V&A Photography Centre, and the projects she undertakes as a curator of this center.
18:15 – Her team: three people when she arrived, now seven permanent positions, and the other roles at the V&A (conservators, loans, art handlers, interpretation team, web team, programming team…) = 700 people work at the V&A.
21:50 – Developments she has observed in the field of museum photography since she began:
-Photography has been integrated into permanent spaces (like at MoMA, but not at the V&A).
-The importance of the photography acquisition group, an increasingly significant aspect of her work.
25:30 – Advice for curators: Take every opportunity to examine photographs as objects, study photo books.
28:30 – She feels fortunate to have focused on early photography at the beginning of her studies, as having a deep understanding of the history of photography makes it easier to build upon that to engage with the present.
29:15 – It is valuable to have some hands-on experience, to know how things are made. This includes making photographs, both digital and analog.
Victoria and Albert Museum Photography Centre: https://www.vam.ac.uk/info/photography-centre?srsltid=AfmBOoqZSZoHt_zH-w0WkTrxPvSA0vbM_JfMgzoZeuYPCyhXZDN2IUl7
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