The short answer
Professional corporate photography gives your business images of your real people that build trust quickly, look consistent wherever they appear, and can be used for a year across reports, your website, LinkedIn and the press. Now that AI can produce a passable picture of anyone, a photograph of your actual team is one of the few visuals that shows you are who you say you are.
Six benefits, and the evidence behind them
1. Your leaders are judged in a tenth of a second.
In a Princeton study published in 2006, people judged a stranger's trustworthiness and competence from a face shown for just 100 milliseconds. Given more time, they mostly grew more confident, not different. Your leadership page makes its impression before anyone reads a word.
2. Real images earn trust that stock and AI can't.
In Getty Images surveys across 25 countries, Singapore among them, 98 per cent of people agreed that authentic images and videos are pivotal to trust. Almost nine in ten wanted to know whether an image had been made with AI. A photograph of your own people answers that question before anyone asks it.
3. You look like one organisation, not a patchwork quilt.
When pictures come from stock libraries, phones and old shoots, the light and style change from page to page. A single planned shoot gives your website, reports and LinkedIn one consistent look, and consistency is what makes a brand recognisable.
4. One day can supply a year of material.
A well-briefed shoot is planned around every place the images will live: the annual report, the sustainability report, the website, LinkedIn, the careers page and the press kit. At our studio, most single-day projects produce 10 to 20 finished images.
5. You're ready when the press calls.
Journalists and event organisers often ask for a high-resolution photo of your chief executive at short notice. With an image bank, you have one to send, instead of a cropped phone snap or a missed feature.
6. The right candidates can picture themselves working with you.
Job seekers check your careers page and LinkedIn before they apply. Real photographs of your people at work show the culture a job description can only describe.
When you don't need a professional
Not every picture needs a photographer. For an internal update, a team lunch or a behind-the-scenes story, a phone is fine. Bring in a professional when the image will represent your organisation for months: the annual or sustainability report, leadership and board pages, investor and media materials, and campaigns.
A note for Singapore companies
SGX-listed companies must hold their annual general meeting within four months of the financial year-end and publish the annual report at least 14 days before it. For a December year-end, that means the report is out by mid-April at the latest. We suggest briefing the shoot before Christmas, so the photographs are ready before design begins.
Questions people also ask
How much does corporate photography cost in Singapore?
It depends on the number of people, the locations and how the images will be used.
Is an AI-generated headshot good enough?
For a personal social profile, perhaps. For anything that represents your organisation, it's a risk. In a 2024 survey of 1,087 recruiters by the software company Ringover, two in three said they would be put off a candidate on learning their headshot was AI-generated.
What should a corporate photography brief include?
What the photos are for, who is in them, where each image will be used, the locations, the deadline, and who approves the final selection.
About the author
Zakaria Zainal founded Studio Zainal & Zainal, a Singapore studio that photographs leaders and teams for annual reports, sustainability reports, campaigns and new roles. He has run the studio for ten years. His documentary photographs are collected by the National Museum of Singapore, and he is the author of Our Gurkhas: Singapore Through Their Eyes.
Planning photographs for a report, a campaign or a new role? Email hello@zainalandzainal.com with what the photos are for and when they need to be live.
Related: On-location corporate portraits in Singapore: what to expect, and how to choose a studio.
Sources: Willis and Todorov, "First impressions", Psychological Science, 2006, via Princeton University. Getty Images, Building Trust in the Age of AI, 2024. Ringover recruiter survey, via Digital Camera World, 2024. SGX listing rules, via Rajah & Tann Asia, 2026.