During August my wife and I took a day trip to London to visit the V&A, (Victoria and Albert Museum), as we had never been, and I had seen that they had photography exhibits.
A day trip like this is a major challenge with Fibro, particularly when your balance, vision and overall cognitive function is poor. However I love going to London and we’re lucky to be just a 40 minute train journey away plus tube or walk to your destination. I will write more about my experiences and tips of navigating a general day in London, or any busy location with Fibro in another post, here I am going to focus on the museum visit.
Upon arriving at the museum my body wanted to stop. The concentration of the journey was very hard work but the buzz of the city encourages you to keep going.
As we started to find our way to exhibits of interest and glance at the exhibits on the route I immediately went into mental and system overload. I had trouble focusing mentally and visually, having to work really hard to go inside, breath and read the exhibit information and signs, let alone moving around with other visitors.
After a couple of hours we arrived at the jewellery, silver and gold exhibits. The displays and lighting are obviously designed to show these at their best but my eyes and head couldn’t cope, the sensitivity, loss of sensation and pain in my head, face and spine was at max. I was unable to distinguish the path or edge of the display cabinets through these dimly lit areas and had to make a quick exit.
The photography galleries and exhibits or larger items were easier to cope with. Yes photography is a personal interest but I can just look at a picture and try to take in what the photographer was trying to create within the description provided, or just be captivated by an image without text. I found the images of the Windrush generation were particularly powerful and captivating.
Overall it was a worthwhile experience and very nice quality time with my wife, however it perfectly highlights the challenges faced when you are less able.
Photography
Although I did have my DSLR camera I chose to do phone photography inside the museum to share online. There will be later posts of some street photography.
Fibro & Photos 
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