Bursary for museum marketing photography

Eye-catching photography is a great way to promote your museum or gallery to potential visitors. It can transform your website, social media, and print materials. 

Your museum organisation can apply for up to £1,000 (including VAT) to spend on commissioning photography for marketing purposes. We have a total of £10,000 available to award.

Our marketing team will offer successful applicants continued support as they undertake their commissions.

• This bursary is open to Accredited and non-Accredited museum organisations in Scotland.
• Successful applicants will pay upfront for the photography, and then submit an invoice to MGS for reimbursement. Bursary recipients must submit their invoice, along with evidence of their expenditure on the commissioned photography, to MGS by 1st February 2027.
• Bursary recipients will share all final edits of the commissioned photography with MGS. MGS will be granted permission to use this media for general marketing and promotional purposes, and share this media with third parties. 
• MGS will then upload a selection of these photographs to Wikimedia Commons as open access images. For bursary recipients to fulfil this requirement, they will need to secure their photographer’s consent for the images to be shared under the CC BY-SA 4.0 open access licence, and submit evidence of this consent to MGS by 1st February 2027.

Details on how to fulfil the image sharing and open access requirements of the bursary can be found in the downloadable document below.

To apply for this bursary, please follow the link below.

You’ll be asked to describe the photographs you would like to commission, and how you will use them. Museums which demonstrate a clear need for photography will be prioritised for this funding.

You’ll also need to provide an estimate of your costs. Preferably, this will include quotes from the people you plan to work with. Follow our guidance below to make sure you identify the right photographers and models for the job. The bursary can cover travel expenses, but not the purchase of equipment.

Applications close at 9am on Monday 29th June 2026. Awards will be announced the week beginning 13th July.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss your plans, please get in touch with our marketing team.

Our advice guide on working with photographers and models should help you to identify the photos you need, write a brief, and organise a photoshoot.

Our Marketing toolkit has a section on how to take and use photographs. This information can help shape your brief for photographers.

You can also email our marketing team with any questions about the bursary or your plans to commission photography.