In 2021 the archive of my over three decades of photographic work was acquired by the University of St Andrews Photography Collection. 

With the knowledge I gained during that year-long process, I’ve gone on to study for a Post-Graduate Diploma in Archival Studies from Dundee University.

I’ve used my knowledge and experience to advise colleagues on how to prepare their own photography work for acquisition and placement within photographic collections.

This is knowledge I am keen to share, to offer a service assisting and advising others on how to safeguard their photography, and to hopefully find a home for it within an institution or collection. Ultimately I want to help others safeguard their photography, and our shared photographic heritage.

Helping you

Perhaps you’re staring at decades of photographic work, perhaps not well organised, and don’t know where to begin? 

Or you are the caretaker of a relative’s photography collection and you need advice and help with it? 

While charging reasonable fees, I can assist with knowledge of:

• Assessing and appraising the photography.

• Guidance on bringing order to the photography work and collection. How best to organise and structure the photographic collection, staying true to the creator’s way of working. 

• How to prepare the work in such a way that it will interest a photographic collection or institution. 

• Cataloguing of the work, to best show and itemise what the collection comprises of. 

• And ultimately to try and assist in finding a home for the photography, somewhere where it will be looked after, secure, and utilised.

Experience

I’ve already assisted colleagues in having their important photographic collections and archives acquired. Their life’s work is now secure, freeing them up to continue photographing and making new work, telling more stories. 

Within the last year I’ve worked with the estate of a deceased colleague of mine, helping his family sort his three decades of photography which was sitting in boxes in a garage. They were unsure what to do with it, but knew it was too important to be thrown away. I assisted them in preparing the work, and then I introduced it to my clients, and now we’ve found home for it. That acquisition will soon be finalised and made public, my photographer colleague’s work will be secured and his legacy strengthened. That means a lot for his family, and for me. But also for Scottish photography.

If you think I can help you, then please get in touch and we can discuss collaborating and a way forward for your archive.

Recommendations

Below are some kind words from those I’ve helped so far, and from those I’ve worked with.

“I worked with Jeremy in my capacity as Photographic Collections Manager at the University of St Andrews Special Collections as we acquired his work into the photographic archive. It is a rare occurrence to acquire a collection which had been meticulously, systematically, and consistently organised from it’s physical and digital conception. It was clear that Jeremy not only understood metadata, collection hierarchy and discoverability of archival holdings, but also a great interest in the application or necessity of such standards. While these skills, in practice had been applied to a photographic archive with attached ephemera, the core principles are pertinent to wider archival studies.“

- Rachel Nordstrom, Operations Manager, National Collection of Aerial Photography

“A talented photographer, Jeremy has also become a great ambassador and publicist for photography in and from Scotland. Through the creation and heading up of Document Scotland, his comprehensive knowledge of contemporary Scottish photography, and his communication skills, a lot of photographers, and indeed, the wider public, have a lot to thank him for.

  By encouraging me, and by resurrecting and promoting my work through his extensive skills in social media, and by linking me with the right people, Jeremy has been the catalyst in my archive being acquired by a major institution.” 

— Tom Kidd, photographer, Scotland

 "In my role as Curator, Photography at University of St Andrews I have direct experience working with Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert’s photography archive. What is obvious is that it is structured and organised in a way which makes it very accessible to use the collection for research and teaching. From the organisation of the negatives, the cross-referencing between those, the contact sheets and prints, right through to the comprehensive catalogue, all within categories and keyworded, it makes my job so much easier. Jeremy’s collection came to St Andrews perfectly housed and ready-to-use. I have no doubt that Jeremy will utilise these skills working with other photographers and institutions alike on how best to organise and look after archive collections, and to protect the photographic heritage that lies within.”

- Laura Brown, Curator of Photography, University of St Andrews

“I first met Jeremy in 1991… Over the last two years our conversations have increasingly been discussions about archives.  I turned to Jeremy because, amongst all the colleagues I know in photography, he is the one most attuned to the issue. The recent acquisition of his archives, physical and digital, by the University of St Andrews was an important step for Jeremy. It was also the result of long and serious preparation as he immersed himself into the issues involving the academic and physical construction of the archive.

  He has kindly shared that experience with me because I am currently in discussions with a major academic institution in the U.K. to accept my archives. Jeremy has been invaluable in advising me as to the best way to present the contents of the archives for assessment, and for beginning the long process of their organization.” 

- James Hill, contract Photographer at The New York Times, and Lecturer in Photography at Sciences Po, Paris, France.

“Jeremy has traveled extensively during his career but never lost touch with his passion for Scottish photography and Scottish photographers. On his return from living in Japan, he started the Document Scotland collective with a few other photographers with the aim of highlighting important projects with exhibitions, talks, and placement in institutions and archives. Jeremy successfully archived his own work and had it placed in St Andrews University. I talked to him many times during this period and was impressed by his passion and diligence in the process. Jeremy has also been the driving force for me to catalog and sift through 40 years of my work, helping advise me on preparing and archiving my extensive collection of negatives, prints, tear sheets, and digital files and finding a home for it. This process has resulted in a soon-to-be-announced acquisition by a major institution which would never have happened without his knowledge and help.

Jeremy’s knowledge of photography is extensive but specifically that of Scottish photography. He always seems to have his finger on the pulse of what’s going on and who’s working on a project, got negatives hidden away in lofts or studios, and has the discerning eye to know what’s good and would fit in the context of a major collection.”

- Graham Macindoe, Photographer & Associate Professor Parsons School of Design, NYC