Office Documentary vs Office Lifestyle Photography

In the last little while, I have had various enquiries from people asking for me to take photos of people at work in their office. I love doing this kind of work, but I found myself, a few times, repeating a similar explanation, which is the difference between documentary photography and lifestyle photography.

Office Documentary Photography

Documentary photography, in its purest sense, is photography that captures the truest sense of what is happening. Nothing is posed or set up. It simply involves me wandering around an office with my camera, capturing what I see happening in the most creative way I can. If there is lots of activity in the office, that will show in the photos, but if people are just sat at their desks tapping away at a key, then the photos perhaps won’t look terribly dynamic. The other challenge with office documentary photos is that of light. Office lighting is often not very flattering, unless the office is filled with plenty of natural light.

Office Lifestyle Photography

Office lifestyle photography is a slower and deliberate process, where each shot, or series of shots, is planned out a little and lit with proper lighting. For example, we might set up a shot where two people are having an informal meeting in a breakout area, and we will light it so that the people look great, and then I will snap a series of images of that meeting. We might do the same thing with a slightly large group of 3 or 4 people in a meeting room. These photos take a little longer to set up because of the lighting, and they require willing participants from the client’s team, which isn’t always easy. The upshot is that they look more professional and slick than office documentary photos which are a little more ‘raw’.

Documentary or Lifestyle Photography: What’s Right For Us?

So what is the right approach for your business? I would suggest you make a decision based on what kind of image you want to portray. There may be different uses for both types of photography. For example, office lifestyle photos might be best for the career section of your website or even the homepage, whereas office documentary photos may work well for social media or other comms channels your business uses. Have a look at some of the examples above to help inform your decision, and hit the contact button above to get in touch if you’d like to ask for a quote or to discuss your requirements.