Photography enthusiasts who use ink cartridges to make hard copies of their best snaps may like to take inspiration from some of the items on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), which is expanding its photography galleries.

The new exhibition space covers the history of the medium from 1839 up until the 1960s and will feature works by some of the best-known pioneers of the technology.

Items on display will be refreshed every 18 months, with a different theme providing the focus each time.

It will launch this autumn and feature galleries dedicated to the work of Julia Margaret Cameron and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Other photos on display will include Curtis Moffat's image from around 1925 of a dragonfly created without the use of a camera and a shot from 1957 of a single milk droplet falling into liquid by Harold Edgerton.

The V&A is currently undergoing a renovation intended to bring the museum into the 21st century, with new visitor facilities and a reorganisation of its collections.