Photography

Photography of visitors or staff (talent) engaging in AM galleries or collection spaces.

• Take a candid, ‘fly on the wall’ approach. People should not be intentionally looking directly at the camera. Most photos should feel natural, not staged.
• Show emotional reactions. Talent direction should encourage facial expressions of awe, wonder, joy, or interest using emotive, imaginative language.
• Encourage talent engagement through touch and sight. Talent can be touching screens or focusing on something to look at and interact with. Try not to show too many backs of people.
• Promote all kinds of diversity as much as possible. Eg:
  • Ensure people with disability are regularly represented in photography, reflecting the diversity of both staff and visitors to the Australian Museum
  • Ensure talent of varying ethnic backgrounds, age groups, and social groups are represented
• Make the photograph uniquely AM. Ideally, there would be an element to the image that only the AM could provide e.g. the objects, the scene or staff. Eg:
  • Images can be framed with objects in the foreground to tell a story
  • Backgrounds should be contextual - depth of field can be shallow, but the audience should be able to recognise the background
  • Playful composition, strong leading lines and diagonal angles can reflect the AM logo
  • Wides: Negative space or spaciousness that allows for thoughtfulness and wonder. This will also help when text or graphic elements need to be placed over the image.
  • Close Ups: An interesting crop, texture or motion that playfully reveals the scene or object.
  • Think about how the shot’s composition, angle or the subject matter can inspire awe, wonder and joy

Photography of objects from the AM collection.

• Objects should appear either in a studio environment or in situ
  • Studio shot: photographed before white, grey or black backdrops and evenly lit. A soft shadow cast by the object is preferred as it shows grounding and realism.
  • In situ: photographed with a shallow depth of field or with lighting to make the object stand out.
• Detail shots should feature an interesting crop, angled when possible and potentially a harder light to show detail and texture
• Use a neutral grey card where possible

• Should feel like a representation of the subject. It's like an introduction to someone you haven’t met.
• Set the scene. Place the subject within their environment (in office, lab, museum, expedition).
• Encourage engagement. Place the subject with an object or something of interest to them or the Museum. They can be looking at the camera or looking at object.
• Their facial expression should be natural. A relaxed smile is usually preferred.
• Lighting should reflect the messaging eg bright and soft to denote friendliness and approachability. Moody, hard shadows to denote seriousness should be used sparingly

Our event photography showcases performances and moments of the AM. These photographs have a wide range of uses such as marketing, documentation and communications.

We encourage the photographer to use their intuition and capture as many fleeting moments as possible. Below are some guidelines for what we prefer.

• Focus on interaction, emotion and engagement. Shallow depth of field can help for close ups
• Showcase large crowds
• Feature unique AM spaces
• Avoid lots of backs of people in groups
• Groups shots and posed photography are generally not used for marketing however they are essential for documentation and communications.
• Capture any branding, logos, interesting details of the event
• Capture wides that showcase the event set up and context