Lightest
Single frame
One photograph added to an existing archive entry. Often used when a contributor has access to a subject the archive has already documented and offers a frame that meaningfully extends the record.
- Words
- None required. An optional short note describing what the frame shows and when it was taken.
- Image
- One clean, unwatermarked WebP at ~1920px on the longest side - your final edit. Plus the original RAW for cold storage.
- Metadata
- Date taken, camera, lens, and alt text for the frame.
- Consent
- Required if a person is in the frame. See the Subject Protocol.
- Archive ID
- One IM-NNNN, issued on acceptance.
Short form
Field diary entry
One event, one observation, one short piece of writing. The field diary is for encounters that don’t warrant a full subject profile but are worth a permanent record - a brief visit, a chance meeting, a small ceremony, a single photograph that carries its own context.
- Words
- Roughly 600 to 1,000.
- Voice
- First person, observed. Written by the person who was actually there.
- Images
- One to four clean WebP frames, ~1920px on the longest side. Plus original RAWs.
- Shape
- A short lede, a body, an optional pullquote, links to related entries where they help the reader.
- Consent
- Required for any named person.
- Archive IDs
- One FD-NNNN for the entry, plus one IM-NNNN per photograph.
Flagship
Subject profile
Full documentary on one practitioner. The form that defines the archive - a long-form written and photographic record of a person who keeps a heritage craft, tradition, or piece of stewardship alive, intended to stand as the canonical reference for them.
- Words
- Roughly 6,000 to 10,000. Most settle around 8,000.
- Voice
- Third-person documentary, or first-person observed where the contributor was central to the encounter. Held consistent across the piece.
- Images
- 15 to 40 clean WebP frames, your final edits. Original RAWs alongside each one.
- Shape
- Lede, narrative sections moving through the trade, the training line, the working day, the apprenticeship picture, the threats to continuity, and what the archive holds. Photographs interleaved through the prose.
- Apprenticeship line
- If the subject has a clear training lineage, it goes into the Apprenticeship Register as part of the entry.
- Consent
- Written. Subject sees the draft before it goes live.
- Archive IDs
- One subject ID (MK, KP, CR, RM, ST, or GT) for the page itself, one GL for the subject’s gallery, one IM per photograph.
- Scope
- A serious commitment. Most subject profiles take several months from brief to publication.
Place
Location hub
An area page recording a specific English place - a wool village, a fenland reach, a coastal stretch, a market town. Location hubs deepen over time as more visits accumulate; the first contributor to a place is laying the foundation everyone else will build on.
- Words
- Roughly 2,000 to 3,000 on the place itself, plus structured listings of places, businesses, and traditions.
- Voice
- Third-person documentary, with local voices quoted where they earn the air.
- Images
- 30 to 80 clean WebP frames, comprehensively documenting the place. Original RAWs alongside.
- Shape
- Hero photograph, lede, quick facts, places of interest with their own photo sets, historical context, the place as it stands now.
- Manifest
- Each photograph carries an archive ID, alt text, and orientation, supplied as a per-location manifest.
- Consent
- Required for any frame in which a named person is recognisable.
- Archive IDs
- One AR-NNNN for the area, one IM-NNNN per photograph.
Long-form
Craft monograph essay
A long-form essay on a single craft tradition. Sits behind a major workshop visit and gives the scholarly depth a documentary record on its own can’t carry. The archive’s most demanding form, and one we propose only to contributors who have built editorial trust over earlier submissions.
- Words
- Roughly 5,000 to 9,000. Most settle around 7,000.
- Voice
- Scholarly but not academic. First-person where you have documentary standing on the subject; third-person otherwise.
- Images
- Optional. Public-domain plates and historical imagery may be used where the craft warrants, with proper attribution.
- Shape
- Typically eight sections: opening, what the craft is, the long tradition, the modern lineage, the living workshop, training and apprenticeship, the state of the craft today, sources and notes. Adapt as the craft asks.
- Sources
- Named, real, and listed. The archive does not publish unsourced essays.
- Pairing
- Each essay sits alongside a subject profile or location hub the archive has already published.
- Archive ID
- One ES-NNNN.
On archive IDs
Permanent and citable
Every archive ID is permanent. Once assigned, it never changes; the URL, slug, or category may move over time, but the ID stays put. The ID issued to your contribution is a citation that will outlive the contribution itself, which is why the archive uses them at all.
On files
Two per frame
Two files per photograph: a clean unwatermarked WebP at ~1920px on the longest side, carrying your final edit; and the original RAW (or unprocessed JPG / DNG) for the archive’s cold storage. The archive watermarks the WebP on receipt. The cold-storage file is the backstop against future re-edits, larger reproductions, or recovery from accidental loss. It is never redistributed.
Read alongside: Style Guide, Photographic Standard, and Subject Protocol. When you’re ready, write to contribute@englandarchive.org.