Promotional Photography Shoot – Digital Transformation Initiative

Description

Location: Graduate School/TR9 and Lanyon Courtyard, Queen’s University Belfast

In February 2016, Dr Matt Birch conceived, organised, and delivered a promotional photography initiative as part of the School of Nursing and Midwifery’s wider digital transformation programme. The activity was designed to generate a high-quality library of portrait and contextual images that could be used across the School’s website, print materials, and digital communications, supporting the modernisation of the School’s public profile and the representation of its teaching, research, and scholarly activity.

Dr Birch was responsible for the end-to-end planning and execution of the project, including stakeholder communication, scheduling, location management, photography direction, post-production editing, and integration of the final images into digital platforms. Two sessions were coordinated on 11 February 2016: a morning shoot (11:00–13:00) for research lecturers, postdoctoral staff, and PhD students, and an afternoon session (15:00–16:00) for senior management colleagues.

Participants were photographed in the Graduate School and the Lanyon Courtyard, creating a consistent visual identity that reflected the University environment and the professional roles of staff.

The primary goal of the activity was to provide the School with authentic, locally produced visual assets that could contextualise teaching, research outputs, publications, and engagement activities. Prior to this initiative, the School relied heavily on generic stock imagery, which limited the ability to represent disciplinary identity and community. The new image bank enabled a more accurate and engaging portrayal of academic life and supported the redevelopment of the School website, a process that Dr Birch also led during 2016.

This activity contributed directly to institutional objectives around digital presence, external engagement, and recruitment by strengthening how the School communicated its expertise to prospective students, partners, and funders. It aligned with QUB strategic priorities relating to Our People and Technology, and supported SDG 4 (Quality Education) by enhancing access to information about educational opportunities and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) through the creation of sustainable digital communication infrastructure.

The project demonstrated the value of professional digital content creation within academic units, showing how visual media can support research visibility, student recruitment, and organisational identity. The assets produced through this initiative continued to be reused across multiple channels, forming a cornerstone of the School’s refreshed online presence.

Period	11 Feb 2016
Held at	School of Nursing and Midwifery
Degree of Recognition	Local