On 13 November, 40 school students will abandon smartphone selfies for 19th century-style portraits created in a pop-up photographic darkroom on London’s Exhibition Road in South Kensington – home of science, arts and inspiration.
The students’ portraits will be taken by artist and photographer, Almudena Romero, in a pop-up studio using the tintype techniques of early photographic pioneers.
The event celebrates the 10th annual Creative Quarter, South Kensington’s careers event for secondary schools, and coincides with the forthcoming exhibitions at the V&A and the Science Museum of Julia Margaret Cameron, one of the most important photographers of the 19th century.
Schools are invited to apply for places in a prize draw run by the V&A, which closes on Thursday 22nd October. For schools to win, all they need to do is enter the prize draw by calling the V&A Bookings team on 020 7942 2211 before 5pm on 22 October and say which their first and second session choice is. They can also register their interest directly with any participating organisation at the time of booking their event from the main programme. The four one-hour sessions throughout the day are: 10.30, 11.30, 13.30 and 14.30. Ten students will be chosen from each of four schools for this one-off event.
The pop-up darkroom is just one of over 60 free Creative Quarter events taking place which are designed to introduce students to different creative and scientific careers.
Budding designers, astrophysicists and codebuilders, for example, can learn first-hand from professionals in their fields through insight talks, hands-on workshops and behind the scenes tours. Science and technology topics ranging from the mysteries of the universe to gaming technology in healthcare are on offer at Imperial College, The Science Museum and The Natural History Museum. While the V&A is offering the chance to hear from Oscar-winning animators, Framestore, Shoe Designer to the stars Natacha Marro and hotly-tipped fashion designer, Katie Jones.
Students can learn about different career options, including fashion design
Other South Kensington venues taking part include the Institut Français, which is hosting events on discovering the cinema, children’s publishing and Culturethèque, the online French cultural library.
