Media, Filming, and Photography Policies

Please let the Office of Communications know if you have been contacted by a media organization (or individual) interested in filming or photography on campus. We will be happy to work with you and with the organization to oversee the process and ensure all the policies are properly followed.   

Note: For approval, clearance, and logistical assistance, please contact Leah Burrows in advance.

The following guidelines have been established to protect the privacy of all members of the Harvard community and to promote an environment conducive to learning.

• Reporters, photographers, video/motion picture cameras, and media recording equipment are not permitted inside Faculty of Arts and Sciences buildings, including classrooms, laboratories (allowable with appropriate permission), dormitories, dining halls, office buildings, or other facilities.
• Faculty members may invite reporters, photographers or film crews into their own private offices for interviews and/or filming, but the Communications Office must be notified. Faculty members are asked to please advise media staff that photography or filming of hallways, lounges or other spaces adjacent to the faculty member's office or elsewhere in the building is not permitted. FAS faculty members may also invite reporters, photographers or film crews into private studies located within the Harvard Libraries, but should obtain a media pass, in advance, from the Harvard Library Communications Office.
• Only exteriors of buildings may be photographed or filmed. The University News Office must approve filming and photography of the exterior of any FAS building, in advance. To request a permission form, call 617-495-1585. This permission form must be completed in advance of shooting, and the photographers or film crew must carry the form with them during the shoot.
• Please secure the permission, in advance, of any students who will be photographed or filmed in wide shots of the Yard or elsewhere on SEAS premises.
• Special events, conferences, seminars, speeches, etc. may be recorded or filmed by the Harvard sponsoring organization, for archival purposes only. Such recording may not be sold or distributed to other internal or external organizations.
• Filming of and reporting on intercollegiate athletic events is permitted, but must be arranged through the Harvard Athletics Department (617-495-2206) in accordance with their policies.
• Filming and reporting of exhibitions and special events inside FAS museums and performance spaces may be permitted at the discretion of the management of the venue, and should be arranged with the venue's media relations staff, in advance.