Photography students are to have their work exhibited at The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum alongside pieces by the leading artists who inspired them.

Work from Wolverhampton University students will be going on display as part of the Something I'll Never Really See touring exhibition which is on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

The exhibition, which consists of 44 contemporary photographs by leading artists including Birmingham-born Richard Billingham, Cindy Sherman and David Hockney, has an area of the gallery for local groups and communities to exhibit their photography.

A collaboration of 18 pieces inspired by the Something I'll Never Really See exhibition, that use different printing styles and techniques, has been created by level three undergraduate students in photography from the School of Art and Design at Wolverhampton University.

The pieces will go on display in Gallery 1 on Saturday, December 6.

Dominic Bubb, exhibitions officer at The Herbert in Jordan Well in Coventry city centre, said: "The work from the Wolverhampton University students will be the final mini exhibition as part of Something I'll Never Really See.

"Adults with learning disabilities from Grapevine in Spon End and pupils from Cardinal Wiseman School displayed their photography when the V&A exhibition launched in September.

"The selection of work really has the wow factor that we wanted to achieve for the final stage of the exhibition.

"The students have used a variety of printing techniques and styles, including photography printed on a new paper called Kodak Metallic which has a chromatic finish - it picks out the light and gives a really eye-catching finish.

"The pieces are very inventive - one student used her personal diaries to base her piece around and will be displaying them next to her photographic work in a display case, with the diaries firmly closed so nobody can read into her secrets.

"Another student will be displaying three polaroids in a display case, and next to this will be the photograph of the same image but on a large scale so that it is possible to read into the detail of these intimate shots of the everyday.

Su Fahy, Principal Lecturer in fine art and photography at Wolverhampton University, said: "The students were given a brief from The Herbert to create a piece of ‘fact or fiction' based on the V&A exhibition.

‘They researched into the work of photographers that they found particularly interesting and created their photographic works for this commission, which contributes to their Creative Industries module, designed to offer professional practice and the chance to work with external agencies and clients.

"This is the first time any of the students have been commissioned and offered the chance to have their work displayed in a public gallery, so it is a great experience to build into their emerging careers."