British Museum X National Gallery of Victoria

A big thank you to The British Museum and National Gallery of Victoria for having me photograph the Egyptian artefacts during conservation and pack-up, before they travel to Australia for the Pharaoh exhibition, opening June 2024.

Portrait photographer Josh Caius photographing at The British Museum

Portrait of Marie Vandenbeusch in The British Museum’s Egyptian Sculpture Gallery

One part of the brief was to photograph Marie Vandenbeusch. Marie is a Project Curator in the Department of Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum, responsible for curating international touring exhibitions, such as the Pharaoh exhibition for at the NGV.


Josh Caius photographer taking portriats for press at The British Museum's Egyptian Sculpture gallery

Portrait of Marie Vandenbeusch in The British Museum’s Egyptian Sculpture Gallery

I also had the pleasure to photograph Stephanie Vasiliou, the British Museum’s senior conservator of stone, wall paintings and mosaics. Stephanie showed us some of the restoration techniques used for the Egyptian stone pieces.

Photograph of employees in action at The British Museum

Stephanie Vasiliou photographed in the conservation room at the British Museum
Close up photograph of a conservators hands at The British Museum

Stephanie Vasiliou photographed in the conservation room at the British Museum
Portrait of a woman conserving artefacts at The British Museum

Stephanie Vasiliou photographed in the conservation room at the British Museum
Photographer photographing laser treatment at The British Museum

Stephanie Vasiliou photographed in the laser cleaning room at the British Museum

As I have a background in ceramics, and love materials generally, this was a really exciting commission for me to photograph. Seeing these talented conservators and curators in action, in their place of work was fascinating. It felt like a real honour to be back in the conservation room, having visited a few years prior to photograph a students’ tour.

Photography of the storage room at The British Museum

Conservators packing Egyptian sculptures in a storage room at The British Museum
Photographer for conservation at The British Museum

Restoring an Egyptian stone at The British Museum
Photographic portrait of a conservator at The British Museum

Restoring an Egyptian stone at The British Museum
Photograph of a storage room at The British Museum.

A storage room housing Egyptian Sculptures ready for moving to Austraila for the Pharaoh exhibition.

Thanks also to James Maiki who produced video on the shoot.

For more info check out this article from The Age