Chris Seymour
Royal Engineers Museum, Library & Archive,Gillingham, Kent

I jumped at the chance to volunteer at the museum because of my interest in history and fine art as well as the family links I have with the Royal Engineers via my father.

I started working on the ongoing museum audit, taking photographs and making detailed notes about the objects. The museum, library and archive has well over 1 million items in its collection and the curatorial team is auditing all the 3D objects in order to create a better catalogue.

I focused on photography for a large part of my degree course and that has given me the confidence to photograph objects properly.

I have also taken on replying to inquiries via the website and post. Many are from people asking about relatives who served with the engineers. People also want to know about equipment, campaigns and the history of the corps.

I have also acted as a tour guide and helped curators in the galleries, replacing objects and writing labels.

My degree has provided me with a lot of knowledge about art and history to help me work with the museum’s collections and their time period. It also gave me experience in giving presentations that I have taken into talks about the gallery in general and the objects in particular.

Chris Seymour brings his knowledge of photography to his work