Client photos and privacy in image consultants: trust before technology

Images of a face, not of a service

A colour analysis produces close portraits taken without makeup under neutral light. It's material most people wouldn't publish themselves, and asking to publish it is a bigger request than it looks from the professional's side.

The deliverable adds a second question: it contains the images and leaves with the client. Where it goes afterwards isn't under your control, which is an argument for making clear at the outset that it's hers.

Working remotely, which is common in this specialism, adds the transmission. Images sent through consumer messaging apps end up in backups and galleries neither side controls, and a client who understands that generally prefers a different channel.

In the consultation

• Ask separately, and expect a no, before publishing portraits.
• Use a channel that doesn't back up to consumer galleries.
• Say what happens to the working images after the session.

Expecting a no is the right posture here: an unmade-up portrait under neutral light is not what most people want on a public feed, and treating a refusal as normal rather than awkward is what keeps the relationship intact.

Saying what happens to the working images after the session closes the loop: the client has the deliverable, you delete the rest, and there's no open question about an archive she can't see.