Event photography

As we get back into the rhythm of the corporate event calendar, I’ve been reflecting on the role that photography plays. As a photographer, how can I best contribute to the organiser’s efforts to communicate their event?

Traditional event photography primarily served as a record – of the ministerial handshake, the chief executive’s speech, and the award ceremony. Such images still serve a purpose, of course, and I’m happy to make posed portraits of individuals or groups if required.

But what my clients mostly want these days is photos that “capture the essence of our event” as one put it recently – photos that convey the excitement in the room. They want images that remind participants what a good time they had, and make non-participants curse their bad luck and promise themselves to go next year.

I wish I’d been there

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A successful event photo evokes the response: I wish I’d been there!

It could be an image of the fabulous venue, or of the canapés at the reception. But most of all it will be an image of human connection. So what I always look for is emotion and interaction, heads turning, hands pointing, laughter. And, above all, the eyes of people fully focused on what someone else is saying. Because although a photograph cannot convey the content of a conference, it can show how information and ideas pass between us.

Conference season, autumn 2021

From the number of enquiries and bookings for event photography that I’ve received in the last couple of weeks, it seems that 2021 will see a return of the traditional conference season in September, October and November. As always, photography will play an important part in documenting these key moments in the life of an organisation or a network, providing valuable visual content for subsequent communication.

Of course, few organisations are planning traditional thousand-person, two-day conferences. The events I've been hired for aim to attract more modest audiences, and these will be strictly controlled by the organisers. One client warned me: “We will request a vaccination certificate and conduct rapid tests on the day (both days) to ensure your safety and the safety of all participants.” Happily, I was able to provide my EU Digital COVID Certificate.

Most event managers will invest more heavily than in the past in infrastructure to extend the content of their event to virtual participants, whether through simple streaming, by opening back channels for questions and voting, or with full two-way videoconferencing. A hybrid approach avoids the risks of air travel and super-spreader events, leaving a smaller number of physical participants – VIPs, speakers and panelists – to be controlled and tested.

New formats and new venues, fewer people and more screens will create new photographic challenges, but I’m excited to explore the new possibilities!

You can't photoshop gender balance

As an event photographer, it's possible I notice things that organisers and participants simply take for granted. Like all-male panels. Look at the image below. Not only are all five panelists men, they're actually in uniform!

Of course, it's not my job to advise people on the gender balance of their conferences, or the way their panelists dress. I'm there to record the event and deliver images that make it look good. But in 2020 it's hard to make a panel look dynamic and relevant if it is made up exclusively of men. 

Guys – pass the microphone please!