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Objects and stories

What you see in our galleries is just the beginning. The National Science and Media Museum is home to more than 3 million items of historical and cultural significance.

Our collection is devoted to the science and culture of image and sound. It includes three pivotal firsts: the world’s earliest known surviving negative, the earliest television footage, and the camera that made the earliest moving pictures in Britain.

In this section you can explore highlights of our collection and find ways to discover more about the objects we look after.

Read stories from our collection

A short history of...

Explore... photography

Cassiopea (albumen print) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Cyanotype of Lastrea cristata, 1853 (photograph; cyanotype) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Quarter-plate `Cameo' camera used to take 'second phase' of Cottingley Fairies photographs, 1918-1920 (quarter-plate camera; folding bellows camera) Science Museum Group Collection
The Island Pagoda (photograph) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Replica of Camera used by W H Fox Talbot (replica camera) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Pasha and Bayadere (photograph; albumen print) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Reginald Southey with Skeletons (photograph; albumen print) © Science Museum Group Collection
Kitten splashing in a saucer of milk (gelatin silver print; photograph) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Man on the telephone (photograph; colour transparency) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Three people with two spirits (photograph) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Eastman Kodak No 1 Brownie box (camera) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Mr and Mrs Walt Disney with Mickey Mouse, London (glass plate negative) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Silhouette of a woman (silhouette; physionotrace) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Kodak No. 2 Camera, 1889 (box camera) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Portraits of prisoners (photograph) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Belinda Lee (photograph; gelatin silver print) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Leica 1 roll film camera in ca (35-mm camera) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Bradford Cathedral (photograph) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
The photographic library of the 'Daily Herald' newspaper, 1911-1965 © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Explore... film and cinematography

Javanese shadow puppet (shadow puppet) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Programme for the Kinemacolor Season at the Holborn Empire (programme) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
The Moon (lantern slide) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Technicolor cine camera (cine camera) Science Museum Group Collection
Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman in 'The Graduate' (photograph) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Kineoptoscope Projector Mechanism (kineoptoscope) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Daag (poster; film poster) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Birtac 17.5mm Camera/Projector (cine camera) Science Museum Group collection
The Dance in the Park (silhouette) Science Museum Group collection
Two Kineograph Flicker Books (flicker book) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Le Prince Single-lens Cine Camera (cine camera; cinematograph) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Phenakistoscope Disc of Man With Anvil and Drop Hammer (phenakistoscope) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
8 mm ciné camera © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Lee and Turner Three-Colour Projector (38 mm Lee and Turner colour ciné film projector) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Kodak Automatic 8 Movie Camera (cine camera) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Éclair NPR 16mm cine camera (cine camera) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Magic lantern chromatrope slide (chromatrope; lantern slide) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Explore... television and radio

'Televisor' (black-and-white television) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Volume 1 No. 1 of "Television" monthly magazine, 1928 (publication) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
John Logie Baird's test subject 'Stookie Bill' (ventriloquist’s dummy) Science Museum Group collection
Philips video cassette recorder, type N1502 © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
BBC Marconi AXBT ribbon microphone, 1944-1959 (microphone) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Experimental television receiver used by JL Baird in demonstration at Royal Institution, 1926 (television receiver) Baird Television Company; enquiries to Science Museum
Pye B16T television receiver, 1946-1950 (television receiver) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Pye Mark III television camera head (television camera) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Ampex videotape recorder, type VR 1000A, serial nu © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Home built 405-line television receiver, 1951-1953 (television receiver) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
A-52 Murphy radio receiver, 1938-1939 (radio receiver) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Cut-away Marconi-EMI Emitron television camera (camera head; demonstration model) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Philco Predicta tabletop television receiver (television receiver) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Nac E-10 camera (high speed camera) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Trinitron colour television, m (colour television) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Explore... computers and gaming

Nintendo Game Boy, model DMG-01 (games console)
Apple Macintosh Colour Classic, with dust cover, keyboard and mouse (personal computer) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Apple Newton MessagePad, 1993 (PDA) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Sega Master System (games console) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Commodore PET 2001-8-BS personal computer, 1977 Science Museum Group Collection
Nintendo Game Boy Advance, model AGB-001 (games console) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Nintendo 64 games console with accessories and games, 1996-2003 (games console) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Sinclair ZX Spectrum microcomputer, 1982–85 © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Mattel Intellivision Games Console (games console) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Magnavox Odyssey Video Games Console (games console) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Sega Mega Drive console (video game console) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Atari 520 ST personal computer. (personal computer) © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

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Part of the Science Museum Group

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