That museum curator told me my dig photos were useless for publication

I mean, I was just shooting quick reference shots with my phone, but she said they'd never pass peer review because I had no scale bars or north arrows in any of them. Now I carry a folding ruler and a tiny compass in my vest pocket at all times. Has anyone else had to totally rethink their field documentation habits after feedback?

3 comments

3 Comments

paulschmidt29d ago

The REAL problem nobody talks about is that museums and universities have COMPLETELY different standards than what works in the field. I've had curators tell me my perfectly framed shots were useless because the lighting wasn't "scientific enough" - whatever that means. Meanwhile I'm trying to get a decent shot before the light changes or something gets kicked over by a cow. The folding ruler trick is smart though, I started sticking a generic coin in every photo as a size reference because everyone knows roughly how big a quarter is. Honestly half these people have never tried documenting a site while being attacked by mosquitoes and fighting through brush to get to the good stuff before sunset.

valw3628d ago

I had a museum project manager tell me my site photos were unusable because I didn't shoot them at high noon with a color checker card, like I'm staging a product catalog instead of holding a trowel with one hand and swatting flies with the other. I just started taping a dry erase marker to the edge of my frame bag for scale, works fine and doesn't blow away in the wind.

logan20528d ago

Wait, you're telling me the curator didn't consider "vibes" a valid lighting condition? That's wild. I bet they also expect you to have a clean white background and zero bugs in your frame. Honestly, next time just tell them you're going for that "authentic field experience" aesthetic and see if they buy it. The coin trick is solid though, I've been using a random keychain my buddy gave me because it's the exact size of his thumb, which is basically a standard unit of measurement at this point. Ngl, I think half these museum people would combust if they had to crawl through poison ivy for a photo.