Equivalent Experience CIC is a non-profit Community Interest Company, now in its second year, creating accessible pathways into photographic conservation and care.
We address a critical skills shortage. Photographs — from daguerreotypes and glass plates to contemporary prints and digital files — are among the largest and most fragile categories of cultural heritage held in UK collections, yet there has never been a dedicated training route for photographic conservators in the UK. Most have trained overseas, or through informal apprenticeships at the few institutions large enough to take someone on. Our nine-month traineeship opens the profession to people for whom that conventional route is inaccessible.
Delivered free to the trainee and led from the studio by Dr Simon Fleury, the programme grounds trainees in the foundations of photographic conservation — process identification, handling, storage, condition assessment and treatment — alongside collections care in real institutional settings. Trainees split their time between the studio and placements with our partners, Tate, the Bodleian Libraries and the Archive of Modern Conflict, rotating through museum, library and archive contexts to build a breadth of experience that no single institution can offer.
QEST Apprenticeship
We’re delighted that Cass Power, one of our first cohort of trainees, has been awarded a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) apprenticeship, beginning 1 September 2026.
It’s a real pleasure to be continuing our work with Cass, and to keep building their skills over the two years ahead. Photographic conservation is a small field with very few formal routes in. Cass came through our nine-month traineeship in 2024, and the QEST award now lets us carry that on across the studio, Tate Conservation and a second institutional placement. It marks another stage in what is, by the nature of the craft, a long path into the field — and it is the first apprenticeship Equivalent Experience has run. Cass is already working as a conservation technician at Tate Conservation.
Read more about Cass’s apprenticeship on the QEST website.
The 2026 cohort
Applications are now closed.
We’re delighted to announce that Alice Mercier and Jay Davis have been selected for the 2026 Photographic Care and Preservation Traineeship Programme. Both trainees begin their nine-month journey with us in January 2026.
Alice brings expertise in photographic history and material identification from her PhD research in visual culture, alongside archival experience at The National Archives and the National Theatre Archive. Jay’s background in forensic science and hands-on darkroom practice at The Gate community darkroom provides a strong foundation for understanding photographic materials and conservation processes.
Over the next nine months, Alice and Jay will develop practical skills and theoretical knowledge across all aspects of photographic conservation and care, working two to two-and-a-half days per week at our North London studio and with our partner institutions.
The foundational programme combines intensive studio-based learning with placements at our partner organisations, offering exposure to different collection types, institutional contexts and conservation philosophies. Through workshops, site visits and project-based work, Alice and Jay gain the comprehensive foundation needed for professional practice in photographic conservation and care.
Also
Equivalent Experience sits alongside short courses in photographic conservation at West Dean College, and workshops and intensive courses for professionals and emerging conservators. Together these initiatives create a hub for practical learning and creative exploration, where traditional conservation techniques meet contemporary approaches.
To register interest in a future cohort, please get in touch: [email protected]