We request all photographers, individuals and institutions to contribute prints, digital photographs, old photographic instruments or accessories, negatives, transparencies, albums, photo-books, posters, postcards, leaflets, motion-pictures and digital/printed documents related to, or contributing to the knowledge about, the photographic object collected. All objects are preserved in temperature, humidity and dust controlled museum conditions. The contributor continues to be the copyright holder of the photograph / object. Photograph / photo-object thus collected will NOT be used for any commercial purposes. They are solely used for education, research, exhibitions and editorial uses in not-for-profit publications. The contributor will be served a ‘Certificate of Museum Acceptance’ once the accession process is completed.

General Guidelines for Submission of Photographs and Photo-Objects

Photographs (19th and 20th Century):
The Museum will consider all prints, colour or black and white, made with any known printing processes. Any reliable information on the date, photographer, print-making process and the subject matter will be invaluable. A description, something like ” A girl from the Kadar tribe of Anappantham Tribal Colony, Kerala, India, photographed in 1969 by Mr. Herbert A.” will be great. More information is always welcome. The Museum will also consider digital images of acceptable quality. There is no size restriction even though files less than 2MB are generally avoided unless it has a very special historical / documentary value. If you do not know the date or any other info, please do not hesitate to send it because our researchers will try to trace it out for you.

Photographs (21th Century):
There is no size restriction for digital files even though files less than 2MB are generally avoided unless it has a very special historical / documentary value. Higher the quality, higher will be the chances of acceptance. Any reliable information on the date, photographer and the subject matter will be invaluable and can be added to the file properties, or sent as a separate note. Prints are accepted only if it is of archival quality – pigment prints on archival paper, digital C-prints on archive paper, Platinum-palladium prints, Gelatine Silver Prints and other ‘alternative’ process prints. Information on the date, photographer, print-making process, the paper used, the subject matter etc. can be given as a separate note. If you do not know the date or any other info, please do not hesitate to send it because our researchers will try to trace it out for you.

Photographic Objects:
This include old photographic instruments or accessories, negatives, transparencies, albums, photo-books, catalogues, posters, postcards, leaflets, motion-pictures and digital/printed documents on photography. Kindly try to send all possible information like the date (or a probable period), photographer/s involved or any other useful information, or just write ‘unknown’ if you are unable to find the necessary information.

Note: The photographer continues to be the copyright holder and s/he can continue to use the digital/analogue image for any other purpose s/he wish to. Please note that you have two options to submit your photo-objects: 1. Donate your object to the museum. The museum owns the object and maintains it in trust for the coming generations to fulfil its educational/research goals. 2. Give the object to the museum as a loan. In this case the contributor continues to be the owner and s/he can take it back any time by giving a notice of one month. In both instances, the contributor is served a ‘Certificate of Acceptance’ with a unique ‘Accession Number’ as a legal document of acceptance. Even though the museum would exercise all possible care to maintain the object/s in good condition, the Museum is not answerable or legally liable to any expected or unexpected deterioration / damage that may happen to the object during the loan period.

Please contribute your pictures to PhotoMuse. Acceptance to the museum collection is subject to the curator’s discretion. You will be notified by email once the picture is accessioned to the collection.