From broadcast cameras to archive boxes: how Digitised Archive started
I didn’t set out to digitise historical documents for a living. Like a lot of things that turn into something real, it started with a conversation, a specific problem, and a camera I already owned.
My background is in broadcast production. For over a decade I worked as a studio lighting director and camera operator across the UK and Australia, on everything from live news to long-form programming. It’s precise, methodical work. Lighting has to be consistent. Framing has to be reliable. You don’t get to reshoot the news.
When that chapter wound down, I started looking at what else those skills might be useful for. The answer turned out to be sitting in reading rooms across London.
The problem researchers kept running into
A researcher I knew was spending a significant chunk of her project budget on in-house digitisation services at major archives. The turnaround times were slow, the costs added up quickly, and she didn’t always get exactly what she needed. She knew which documents she wanted captured. She just needed someone who could do it carefully and reliably.
It occurred to me that what she was describing wasn’t that different from any other careful camera work. Consistent lighting, accurate capture, methodical coverage of the material. Those are broadcast habits. They translate.
We did a small commission together. It worked. Then another researcher got in touch, and another after that.
What Digitised Archive actually is
It’s a small, independent service. I work with academic researchers who need specific documents captured at archives and special collections across the UK, including the National Archives, the British Library, the Wellcome Collection, and others.
Most of my clients are working on research projects where the in-house digitisation option is either too slow, too expensive, or not available for the specific material they need. They know what they want. I go and get it.
I’m not a large digitisation company. I don’t have a warehouse full of scanners. What I do have is a careful approach, a background in getting images right, and a good working relationship with the kinds of archives and collections where this work happens.
Why I like the work
There’s something genuinely satisfying about it. You’re in a reading room, working through material that hasn’t been looked at properly in decades, and you’re making it accessible for someone whose research might actually matter. That’s not a bad thing to spend your days doing.
The broadcast world is fast and loud. Archive work is quiet and careful. It suits me.
What’s next
I’m developing the technical side of the workflow all the time, moving toward a full DSLR setup with colour calibration and embedded metadata as standard. I’ve also recently started offering lecture and interview recording for academic clients, drawing more directly on the broadcast background.
If you’re a researcher planning a digitisation commission and you want to talk through what’s involved, feel free to get in touch. I’m always happy to have a conversation before anything is agreed.