I realize this does not address your original question, but I have become an evangelist for including virtual capture of exhibit spaces archival plans because it is the most complete archival reference one can have. I want to emphasize that I'm am talking about archival reference, not visitor tours. Tours are hard because they involve design. Capture is as easy as cheap and easy as any other form of photography. With a full virtual capture, you have everything. You can extract still images from the virtual space and print them, effectively taking pictures inside the virtual space.
I documented two full museums purely for reference. I documented the entire museum space, not just the exhibits. Each took less than a day from start to finish and one was approximately 10,000sqft. For both, I used my iPhone and a Matterport Axis mount, which I bough on sale for $90. The scanning and hosting of the first one was free. I have, on several occasions, gone into these spaces to extract photographs, both traditional and 360 panaramas, for various purposes.
Cheers,
tod
Tod Hopkins
Hoptod LLC
443-472-5978
Original Message:
Sent: 9/10/2025 9:52:00 AM
From: Lauren Lessing
Subject: RE: Photo Documentation of Exhibitions
Thanks Todd. We are considering 3D tours--primarily to broaden access to online audiences. But for now our primary concern is archival documentation that can be kept in both digital and analog formats.
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Lauren Lessing
Director
University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art
Iowa City IA
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-10-2025 08:59 AM
From: Tod Hopkins
Subject: Photo Documentation of Exhibitions
No rubric, but consider 360 degree photography or a full "virtual tour" instead of, or in addition to, traditional still photography. Virtual tours capture context and the full sense of space that are important to appreciating a full exhibit design. Matterport is relatively inexpensive path to creating virtual tours. Matterport is an online service from capture, through design, to distribution, created to be end-user accessible, but with extensive professional support as needed. But it is easy, can be done in-house, and is scalable from simple reference record to full-blown visitor facing tour. You can create one space for free. I've used Matterport to document a few exhibitions using the Matterport "Axis" product which integrates with a smart phone to do the capture and is simple enough for anyone to learn. Matterport -professionals using dedicated higher resolution cameras are cheap and can be found pretty much anywhere in the country because Matterport is the product of choice for real estate tours.
You can also use Polycam and similar 3D capture tools, or simple 360º cameras like Insta360s or the Ricoh Theta to capture high-quality 360 panoramic stills.
Always happy to talk about my experiences with these.
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Tod Hopkins
Museum Media Specialist
443-472-5978
tod@hoptod.com
Original Message:
Sent: 09-08-2025 03:30 PM
From: Lauren Lessing
Subject: Photo Documentation of Exhibitions
Hi everyone. We're adding photo documentation to our exhibition planning process and looking for guidelines that will help us consistently capture all relevant visual information. Before we create these guidelines from scratch, I'm hoping that versions already exist out in the museum world. Do any of you use a rubric for photo documentation of exhibitions at your museums, and would you be willing to share it?
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Lauren Lessing
Director
University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art
Iowa City IA
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