Office Lifestyle Photographer
LONDON, UK
A long, long time, ago, before a pandemic swept the globe in 2020, people worked in things called “offices”. These strange places were filled with desks, phones and meeting rooms, and people came to them for five days a week to work. Sometimes people would sit at their desk and work alone, but they would also often talk to other people, face to face, in the flesh. Well, these offices might have been forgotten about while everyone became accustomed to working from their kitchen tables at home, but now it’s 2025, and these “offices” are back with a vengeance. And they are filled with people, working and collaborating, all while drinking copious amounts of tea and coffee. Yes, people have returned to the office, perhaps armed with a little bit more flexibility about where they work from than before 2020.
The working week might be Monday to Friday, but it seems to now be accepted that the real working week, when people actually commute into London, is Tuesday to Thursday.
I love capturing photos of people being themselves in offices. Because people are what make any business tick. There are two ways to go about getting great photos of office life. One is what I call pure documentary, where nothing is staged, and I wander around the office, silently snapping away (yes, my cameras are silent) whilst people go about their day.
This can lead to amazing results, but it is a little reliant on there being a good level of interaction and activity in the office, as well as a nice level of ambient light. The other option is to stage some activity and add some artificial lighting, which often helps the images look a little more polished, although it does require some enthusiastic volunteers. You can see more about the difference between the two approaches to office lifestyle photography on my blog.
Often used on company websites as well as LinkedIn, quality office lifestyle images can really help a business attract the right type of people. I’d love to help.
Starting Budget
From £450 plus VAT for a session up to 2 hours
Availability
Usually within 1-2 weeks
Turnaround time
- 24-48 business hours following shoot conclusion for a proofing gallery
- 24-48 business hours from photo selection
What’s included
- Professional studio lighting & camera equipment on location in London
- Optional light retouching (blemish removal, shine reduction, flyaway hairs)
- Private online proofing gallery to choose the best image
Deliverables
Edited high resolution & web resolution JPEGs delivered in a private online gallery
Locations
Your office or workplace, indoors or outdoors
Featured Project
VIEW CASE STUDY
Office Lifestyle
2024
Teneo
Office Lifestyle Photography Case Study
Teneo is a communications firm that advises senior leaders in business. Their team is full of experts in many fields
The client was delighted with the images which have been used online and in print.
Work Highlights
FAQs
Office Lifestyle
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO DO AN OFFICE LIFESTYLE SHOOT?
There are two ways to go about office lifestyle photos. One is a documentary style, and the other is an artificial style. Both have their pros and cons. If your office or workplace is nice and bright and well lit (ideally by natural light, but not necessarily), then the documentary approach may work well. If it’s a bit darker and closed off, a more artificial style might work better. I go into more depth about the difference between the two styles, including examples of images, in this blog post.
HOW DO WE MAKE IT WORK ON THE DAY?
If you are opting for the documentary approach, you don’t need to do too much. I will be wandering around the office with my camera snapping away. It would be sensible to give advanced warning to everyone that I’m going to be there, and to let you and/or me know if they don’t want to be in any photos. You should also ask everyone to ensure their desks and general work environment are tidy and free of personal items and coats aren’t slung over the back of chairs etc.
If you are going down the artificial/posed route, then it does take a bit more planning. You need to gauge interest from people as to who is happy to take time out from their actual work to be featured in the photos. You need to schedule them in small groups throughout the day in different locations across the office to ensure you get as good a variety of photos as possible. If you have enough volunteers you may not need to rotate people, but if you don’t have that many people, you may need to pick out groups carefully. I can of course photograph real meetings going on as well as fake meetings, formal or informal, for the sake of the photos.
WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND FOR GROUP SIZES?
For office lifestyle photos, smaller groups of people generally work best, so that each person can feature properly. With larger groups it can be difficult not to feature the backs of people’s heads. I normally suggest groups of 2 or 3, although photos of individuals can work, as well as photos of larger groups when necessary. With smaller groups of 1-3 people, it is easier to take close up photos, which allow me to blur out the foreground and background to draw the viewer’s eye to the subjects. When the groups are larger, a wider angle lens is needed which makes it harder to hide certain things in the office.