Artwork Documentation Services in NYC

Carlson Art Photography is an artist-run art documentation photography studio in Harlem, serving artists, galleries, museums, and arts institutions across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and the broader Tri-State area. Every shoot is color-calibrated against a reference target, captured with a 51-megapixel sensor, and delivered as archive-ready TIFF, JPEG, and web-sized files.

The studio is built for one purpose: to give artists, galleries, and museums photography of their artwork that holds up to portfolio submissions, gallery applications, grant packages, fine art prints, and museum-grade publications. Whether you're a working artist who needs an artwork photographer to document a single new piece or a gallery shooting an entire exhibition, the workflow is the same — calibrated, archival, and built to outlast any single submission cycle.

Our artwork photography covers the full range of two- and three-dimensional work: oil and acrylic paintings, works on paper, watercolor, drawings, photographs, prints, sculpture, ceramics, installations, mixed-media work, and framed or unframed pieces of any size.

Each session uses the lighting technique best suited to the work — from soft diffused light for matte surfaces, to cross-polarized lighting for glossy or varnished pieces, to raking light for textured paintings and works on paper. Every shoot is tethered so the artist can review files on a calibrated monitor as the work happens. Color is verified with a printed and on-screen reference target so that what you see in the file matches what hangs on the wall. The result is artwork photography that reads as the artwork itself — not as a photograph of it.

As an artists photographer in New York, the studio works regularly with practicing artists preparing gallery submissions, painters and sculptors documenting their archives, galleries shooting inventory and exhibition records, and institutions producing publication-grade files for catalogs and grant deliverables. Past projects include solo-artist archives, two-person and group show installations, gallery inventory shoots, art fair booths, and individual works for monograph publications.

Pickup and travel within Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx is included in the studio rate; sessions outside the five boroughs and Tri-State are quoted separately. The studio is at 59 W 119th Street in Harlem — a short walk from the 2/3 train at 116th Street — by appointment only.

Exhibit photography services cover gallery installation shots, museum exhibitions, art fair booths, project-room documentation, and archival exhibition records. The shoot captures wide installation views that establish the overall exhibition, mid-range three-quarter views that show how works relate to one another, and individual piece details for press, archives, and online inventory.

Files are delivered ready for press use, gallery websites, exhibition catalogs, and grant reports. Most exhibition documentation sessions take two to four hours on-site and are delivered within five business days. For galleries that run rotating programs, a recurring exhibit photography services arrangement keeps the cost per show low and the visual record consistent across exhibitions.

Booking is straightforward. Send a count of the work to be photographed, the longest dimension of the largest piece, and whether the shoot is at our Harlem studio or on-location at your studio, gallery, or institution. We confirm a date, share a short shot-list checklist, and quote the session up front — no surprise charges.

On the day of the shoot, expect roughly five to ten minutes of setup per piece, with color targets shot alongside each work for calibration. After the session, raw files are processed against the calibration target, color-corrected, retouched as needed (dust spots, wall imperfections, framing edges), and delivered as TIFF (archive), JPEG (print and web), and web-optimized versions.

Standard turnaround is three to five business days; rush turnaround inside 48 hours is available on request.

Most artwork is photographed for $50 per piece. Sessions at our Harlem studio carry no additional fee — just the per-piece rate. For on-location shoots at your studio, gallery, or venue, a one-time $125 travel and setup fee applies per session. Sculpture, installations, and larger exhibition shoots are quoted based on scope and travel. Volume pricing applies for archive-scale projects (40+ pieces). See the full pricing page for current rates, package options, and rush turnaround.