Fifth Series

The photograph titled Fifth Series by Louise Laffon documents objects from the Campana Collection, a group of ancient artifacts now in the Louvre. Created between 1863 and 1864, the images served as precise visual records for study, enabling scholars and students to examine forms and ornamentation without direct access to the originals. Laffon’s work contributed to the museum’s broader goal of expanding access to material culture through reproducible imagery.

Laffon produced the series using the albumen print process, common in mid-19th-century photographic documentation. The images exhibit careful composition and even lighting, emphasizing the sculptural details of antiquities. Unlike artistic photography of the era, these works prioritized clarity and fidelity over aesthetic embellishment, aligning with the museum’s utilitarian approach to image-making.

In 1864, the V&A acquired 500 photographs from Laffon’s series through the Parisian agent E. Cappe. These were integrated into the museum’s growing photographic archive, which had been established a decade earlier. Laffon, one of the first women admitted to Le Société Française de la Photographie, was among several female practitioners whose contributions to institutional collections were later overlooked in historical accounts.

During the 1860s, European museums increasingly turned to photography to systematize their collections and support design education. The V&A’s initiative reflected a wider trend in which technical reproduction replaced hand-drawn copies. While Impressionism emerged as a painterly movement focused on perception, the museum’s photographic program remained grounded in documentation, serving pedagogical rather than expressive aims.

Laffon’s photographs remain part of the V&A’s foundational collection, illustrating early institutional efforts to standardize visual reference materials. Her work, alongside that of other female photographers, helped establish photography’s role in academic and curatorial practice. Though long neglected, their contributions are now recognized as vital to the development of museum-based visual scholarship.