Images and media use

We are able to supply images of objects in collections and are keen to support research.

The Horniman charges a fee for use of some of our photography and license in commercial works, however many of them are free to use with a creative commons license.

Complete and return the form below, and we will be in touch to discuss whether we have the image, and if it is charged for.

You can also download the reproduction rights charges below, to understand what these costs are, particularly if you need us to photograph an object for the first time. This fee helps to support the Horniman in its work as a charity.

Please complete the form below for any new request and send it to web@horniman.ac.uk

Please note, there may be a delay of up to four weeks to respond to image requests.

Please note these charges are listed as guidelines only.

Full terms and conditions for image reproduction are set out in the application form.

Note that you are free to photograph and film in the Museum and Gardens on a small scale for personal use. Visit the Planning your visit pages for more information.

Collections photography

Where a suitable image does not exist, we may be able to arrange for particular objects from the collections to be professionally photographed.

Please note that collections photography will normally carry a charge. This is to cover staffing costs involved, which includes not only the photographers time, but the conservation and collections staff time in accessing and assessing whether the object can be photographed. It does not grant copyright or the right to reproduce the images (see charges above) in published works.

To make a request for collections photography, please complete the form below, and return to web@horniman.ac.uk

The Horniman Museum and Gardens can offer a large selection of images, both archive and current, for media and editorial use.

For more information see our press images page.

The Horniman is a fantastic location for all types of filming and photography.

If you want to take photographs at the Horniman for commercial use, including for use in books and journals, please visit our commercial filming and photography page.

We welcome your photography and filming at the Horniman for personal, non-commercial use.

Please refrain from using a tripod, monopod or supplementary lighting. Flash photography is not permitted. These can damage the objects and the cases that they are housed in.

The Horniman Museum and Gardens celebrates human creativity. It follows therefore that it respects and seeks to honour all laws and regulations designed to protect the rights of creative persons and organisations, including ourselves.

Rights exist to protect those who create, using their imagination, things that can be re-used. Collectively known as Intellectual Property (IP) rights, these take many forms. This policy applies in general to all forms of IP rights but it addresses specifically only Copyright. All other rights are asserted as per the law of the United Kingdom.

The Horniman however has in its care many thousands of items for which it has little information as to who created it and might have rights to protect.

The Horniman wishes to share the information we have about our collections. We do this mostly by publishing it on our website, but also and increasingly through collaboration with other organisations who publish our information and by making appropriate information available for download.

For this purpose, we seek to apply the minimum of licencing and protection to the assets we create, while equally protecting the rights of others.

Please note: the Horniman Museum and Gardens cannot guarantee that your use of any content found on our website will not infringe any third-party copyright or other intellectual property rights. It is your responsibility to judge whether any of the content may need additional clearances for your intended use and to obtain them.

If we get it wrong

Although all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that material that infringes the law will not be present on the Horniman’s website or any publication or broadcast to which the Horniman has supplied material from its collections, the risk cannot be entirely eliminated. A variety of measures are taken to minimise and manage risk including the publication and implementation of this ‘notice and takedown’ policy and procedures.

Please contact us in the event that you are the owner of the copyright or related rights in any of the material on this website:

  • and you believe that the material may be subject to a third party ownership or another legal claim,
  • or you believe that use of this material infringes your intellectual property or any other rights.

We will withdraw the material from our website upon receipt of your written objection and our initial verification of your complaint, while the matter is investigated. Your objection will be acknowledged within seven working days of receipt.

In order to process your enquiry, please provide us with the following information:

  • Your name
  • Your postal address
  • Your email address
  • Your telephone number
  • ID number
  • Name of Artist/Creator
  • Nature of your objection and verification of your right to make the objection
  • Any additional information

To enquiry@horniman.ac.uk. The information you provide will be used only in connection with this enquiry.