My Journey in Museum Photography Begins at the École du Louvre
From the École du Louvre to photographing for the Musée d’Orsay, my journey has been shaped by light, history, and fragile works of art. This post reflects on the path from student to professional photographer, working with museums, galleries, and private collections.
Caroline Coyner in front of the Petit Palais, Paris — where my journey in museum photography continues.
Four years immersed in art history and museology at the École du Louvre, learning how to preserve what time and light inevitably damage.
Then come the hands-on experiences. At Azay-le-Rideau, I guide visitors in French and Italian. Between tours, I photograph the tapestries tirelessly — kept in semi-darkness to protect their colors.
At Versailles, while leading tours through the groves, I discover the fragility of the gilding on the fountains and the delicate painted details, like those on the Fountain of Flora, constantly threatened by wind and rain.
Later, working in an antiques gallery, I photograph every object for decorators and clients. The images remain flat, lifeless… until the day my employer lends me a Leica. Everything changes: the object seems to vibrate, to come alive. I realize this is where I belong — searching for the “preferred profile” of each piece, just as one does with a portrait.
Detail of a bronze Buddha head — one of the many artworks I photograph with precision lighting and calibration to preserve texture and form.
After the gallery, I begin collaborating with antiques dealers — in New York, in Atlanta, even for a jeweler based in Miami.
I photograph their pieces for 1stDibs, for collectors, for designers. Each object becomes an exercise in precision: finding the angle that reveals the patina of wood, the transparency of crystal, the brilliance of an antique jewel.
These years give me valuable insight into the art market and the collector’s eye.
Antique sunburst mirror — photographed to reveal depth, patina, and the play of light across gilded surfaces.
Life then brings me back to France. My parents need me, and I decide to return to care for them.
Everything shifts: I have to reinvent my clientele, rebuild a network, find my place here again.
It’s in this context that an unexpected opportunity arises. The Musée d’Orsay, preparing its major Caillebotte exhibition in collaboration with the Getty and the Art Institute of Chicago, entrusts me with photographing a number of works directly in the homes of private collectors.
These photographs are later published in the exhibition catalogues.
Catalogue for the Caillebotte exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay, created in collaboration with the Getty and the Art Institute of Chicago, featuring my photography.
Other projects follow: Berthe Weill (commissioned by the Musée d’Orsay for the Orangerie), Harriet Backer, Hans Berggruen, Troubetzkoy…
Today, several catalogues and exhibition books include my photographs. Each time, the feeling is the same: contributing to transmit art to the public while respecting the fragility of the works.
Photographing a work of art is never just pressing a shutter. I arrive with a small traveling studio: the light, the calibration tools to keep the colors accurate, everything needed to work independently.
With my husband, who assists me, we work as two, which makes things simpler and smoother. In a collector’s home, we know how to be present without intruding, to respect the intimacy of the house, to adapt to narrow rooms. In a museum, it’s the same spirit: going quickly, without haste, to respect the rhythm of the place and the fragility of the works.
Exhibition catalogues including my photographs, published by the Musée d’Orsay, the Musée de l’Orangerie, and international institutions.
For me, photographing for museums, galleries, or private collectors is about making visible the fragile beauty entrusted to me.
If you would like your works to be captured with this same attentive eye, I would be glad to talk with you.
See more of my work in the portfolio, or contact me to discuss photography for your museum, gallery, or collection.
Caroline Coyner photographing for museums, galleries, and private collectors — adapting to each space while respecting the fragility of the works.