Bradford proves there's still life in the art of photography – in pictures

Still life with ivory tankard and fruit (c1860) by Roger Fenton
Fenton ended his photographic career (he only practised between 1851 and 1862) with a series of sumptuous still lifes. They drew directly from painting, placing photography firmly within a fine art tradition Photograph: The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the National Media Museum

Contents of an ostrich's stomach (c1930) by Frederick William Bond
Full list of the items found by Bond, who worked in a zoo: three odd cotton gloves, three handkerchiefs, the wooden centre of a silk spool, a piece of lead pencil, four halfpennies, one franc, one farthing, one coin too worn for identification, part of a bicycle valve, part of a metal comb, one piece of wood, two yards of string, an alarm clock key, several small metal washers and other pieces of metal – and a four-inch nail that finally caused death by perforation
Photograph: The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the National Media Museum

Still life (1907) by Clarence White
Bubbles were sometimes included in still life paintings as a reminder that nothing is permanent. White frequently used glass globes and crystal balls in his symbolist photographs Photograph: The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the National Media Museum

Caterpillar eating a tomato (1998) by Catherine Chalmers
Photograph: National Media Museum Collection, courtesy of the artist

Mustela erminea stabilis A48 (1994) by Clive Landen
Photograph: National Media Museum Collection, courtesy of the artist

The Turkish bath (1986) by Calum Colvin
Colvin assembles images that play with perspective. Household items are arranged and painted to create a scene that can only be captured by the camera Photograph: National Media Museum Collection, courtesy of the artist

Pomegranate (2006) by Ori Gersht
Gersht’s Pomegranate – a still image from a video installation – is a direct reference to the baroque oil painting Quince Cabbage Melon and Cucumber (1602) by Juan Sánchez Cotán. He also references Harold Edgerton’s stroboscopic photography which sees apples pierced by a bullet and frozen in mid-air
Photograph: Mummery and Schnelle Gallery London, Nogah Gallery Tel Aviv, CRG Gallery New York, Angles Gallery LA

Dessert (c1923) by Frederick G Tutton
At the beginning of the 20th century, photographers would take pictures of fruit and flowers to showcase the exciting new world of colour photography Photograph: The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the National Media Museum

Insect wings, as seen in a solar microscope (c1840) by William Henry Fox Talbot
Fox Talbot was a 19th-century pioneer who invented the precursor to the modern photographic process Photograph: National Media Museum Collection

The sands of time (c1855) by Thomas Richard Williams
Photograph: The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the National Media Museum

Horticultural show, Carn, Brea (1992) by Jem Southam
Photograph: National Media Museum Collection

2,000,000 pairs of service boots in the making (1939)
Photograph: The Daily Herald Photograph Collection at the National Media Museum