COVENTRY.- An expert on photographs is to give a free guided tour of a fascinating exhibition which gets underway at The Herbert this month.

Martin Barnes, the Senior Curator of Photographs at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, will travel to Coventry to give the talk as part of the Herbert Illuminations series on Tuesday, September 16.

The tour is to promote the exhibition Something That I’ll Never Really See Contemporary Photography from the V&A which will be staged at The Herbert in Jordan Well in Coventry city centre from September 16 until January 11, 2009.

Martin, who has worked at the photography gallery at the V&A since 1997, said the exhibition would include pictures that the Museum has collected over the last decade.

He said: “During the tour, I will introduce broad themes in contemporary photography.

“There are different styles of photography that have been used within contemporary art practice.

“Sometimes the prints look like fashion photography but are fine art and others look like scientific images but are documentary photographs. All these styles are used by contemporary photographers to make artistic or poetic points.

“In my tour, I will be picking out different pictures and telling the story behind the photographs and what they evoke, the subject and techniques used.

“There are distinct groups of photos in this exhibition: some are experimental, made without a camera, just by using direct exposure to photographic paper and darkroom techniques. Others are documentary style images, made on the spot, with great detail and a sense of quietness. And some are elaborately staged like theatre specifically for the camera.

“This is a wonderful exhibition with the exhibits on an impressive scale. I hope the tour will prove provide interesting insights and reveal some of the secrets and fascinating stories behind the images that bring them to life.”

Jack Shuttleworth from The Herbert added: “This is a superb opportunity to learn more about photography and this particular exhibition because Martin will be passing on fascinating details on many of the photographs that will be on show.”

Something That I'll Never Really See is drawn from the V&A’s permanent collections and includes over 40 photographs.

The tour will be held in the new Gallery 1 at 12.30pm on September 16. For more information call 024 7683 2386.