Taking photos of museum freelance practice

This blog is kindly written for Museum Freelance by Steve Slack. You can find Steve on twitter or online.

Museum consultancy can sometimes look, well, a bit dull. So how do we capture our work for promotional purposes?

If someone took a picture of you right now, what would your working day look like? Chances are it would be an image of you in something that looks a bit like a workspace, perhaps one that you’ve squeezed into a space in your home, maybe sat at a computer. If you’re lucky, you’ll be in a dedicated space, maybe an office or a work studio. There could well be an empty coffee cup and a lengthy to-do list nearby.

What about on days when you’re with clients? What does it look like then?

While I think of my freelance work as being fairly creative (planning interpretation for museums and heritage sites) the process often doesn’t look very interesting. There are plenty of meetings, plenty of conversations, plenty of coffee, plenty of post-it notes and plenty of biscuits. The things we talk about during the course of interpretation planning are often rather exciting, at least I think so, and can result in super visitor experiences. But the practice of actually doing the work isn’t that photogenic.

Above images: Interpretive planning is mostly scribbles, snacks and post-it notes

From time to time, it’s useful to have an image of yourself at work, though. If you’re building a website for your freelance business, for example, and want to show something of your working practice, then an image can add something to your online shopfront. You might want to post a picture of your work on social media, to let potential clients see what they can expect from you. You may want to put an image of yourself in a project proposal or tender document.

I’ve found getting just the right image quite a challenge in the past.

Looking back at pictures on my phone, they’re mostly wonky photos of the floor or images of hastily scribbled sticky notes at the end of workshops, taken as reminders that I will use when writing up later. And quite often I forget to take any photos at all.

Recently, when writing a book about my professional practice, I realised that I had plenty of pictures of finished interpretation in museums and heritage sites, but not many of me actually doing the work.

I asked around and looked for photographs of me at work. They tended to be taken when I was speaking in public (often captured at the moment my eyes were closed or when I looked unflatteringly gormless) or taken in a meeting when I was looking uncharacteristically grumpy or confused. And try as I might, anything I posed for didn’t seem quite right.

So, in the end, I staged it. Don’t tell anyone, but this isn’t a genuine meeting. I’m not even in it. (I was hanging off a stepladder, taking the picture). But I got just the image I wanted for the book – something that I think sums up the spirit of collaborative interpretation planning.  

Above image: Faking interpretive planning in a staged photo shoot

There’s some authenticity here. Those are all the things we have on the table during a session – stationary, coffee, water, biscuits and plenty of sticky notes. And I did set them an interpretive conversation to have while I dangled above them.

I’d be just as inclined to use an image from a real client situation, with their approval of course. But whenever I was in a meeting that might have ‘looked’ right, I felt I didn’t want to take up valuable meeting time with a museum team on an endeavour that was, essentially, self-promotion for me and not in that client’s interest.

That said, over the years I have taken some good images of my, and others’, work taking place. So here are a few tips for taking a good freelance work photo:

• Plan ahead. Decide what job you want the image to do well before you take it. That will help you to choose the right setting and tone for the picture.

• Ask permission in advance. If you’re taking a picture with or of a client, make sure they are okay with it and that they know how and where it will be shared.

• Recruit a photographer. If you can afford to, pay a professional to take the photograph. If not, perhaps someone from your client team can take it. Just be sure to agree who owns the copyright of the image.

• Stage it? Don’t worry about trying to capture an authentic reportage shot of work in action. Move a few things around to get the right shot.

• Retain confidentiality. If the results of your work are out on the table, move anything sensitive out of the way. Feel free to edit some elements or people out.

• Think creatively. Could the image be taken from a different perspective? From your own point of view, through a window or from on top of a step ladder (as mine was).

• Offer it up. Your client may want a copy to use as documentation of your work together (perhaps to show to a funder), so it’s polite to offer them use of it too.

• Acknowledge your source. Say where the image was taken and if posting online, tag the client in the image, if they wish.

Good luck capturing pictures of your practice and promoting your work.

The image above features in Steve’s new book Interpreting Heritage: A Guide to Planning and Practice (£29.99).

Huge thanks to Steve for writing this piece for Museum Freelance. If you’d like to write something for the blog please get in touch with Marge by emailing [email protected].