Charles Thurston Thompson :: Decorative mirror, 1853. Albumen print. | src MoMA

Charles Thurston Thompson was the first official photographer employed by the South Kensington Museum. He was officially appointed in 1856 but photographed at the Museum starting in 1853. Objects were photographed prior to their return to lenders so that photographic copies could be sold to designers, craftsmen and students, and also filed in the Museum’s library for study. Thompson included his camera, reflected in the mirror. [src Luminous Lint]