Level II Grant
proposal prepared
by CutlerBremner

April 12, 2023

T H E V I S I O N

Imagine that you could have access to the vaulted collections of the world's natural history museum. Now imagine that you could speak with the directors and curators of these Natural History museums and find out what artifacts are the most cherished, rare and precious - the 'gems' of their collection. The Vault: Inside the Hidden Collections of the world's Natural History Museums will bring you on a photographic journey to view the pieces that are hidden in their collections. I will photograph these artifacts and our writer will share why these are so important to our planet's history. Because the moving image is so compelling, I will film the objects as well, so the readers can see them in a digital magazine and on social channels.

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T H E T E A M

  • Project leader - Craig is an award-winning photographer and director, whose work has appeared on the covers of The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Newsweek, Time, M Le Monde and various publications. Craig’s impeccable combination of craft and unique lighting style brings an element of art to his work as a director and a photographer. Craig’s most recent cover for the February 2023 issue of National Geographic featured NASA + JPL’s Starshade.

  • Senior VP of Research and Collections and Gretchen Augustin Director and Curator, Dinosaur Institute of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County “I have discussed the Natural History Museum Vault project with Craig Cutler and his team that is being considered for a National Geographic Storytelling Grant. The mission is to create awareness of the tremendous collections that are not on view in various Natural History Museums throughout the world. This project will not be confined to the Global North. Craig seeks to explore the collections on several continents, including museums that may be smaller or receive less media coverage. I would happily offer my assistance to the project with Craig Cutler, Scott Bremner and their team.” -Luis

  • Writer - Over the past several years, I have trekked through the Amazon to write about bizarre insects for National Geographic, marveled at pastures full of cloned polo horses for Vanity Fair, and sped along the St. Lawrence River with professional bass fishermen for The New York Times. (And I thought I had a cool job.) For Outside Magazine, I have retraced the epic histories of two rock climbers whose deaths hold lessons about how to live and profiled “The Bite Club”, a support group for shark attack survivors. I have written about a tiny rocket company with big ambitions and the race to replicate breastmilk in a lab for MIT Technology Review, two dogged American lawyers trying to hunt down Ferdinand Marcos’s pilfered fortune for Bloomberg Businessweek, and inmates who tame wild horses for 1843.

    These stories might seem disparate, but they share a common theme: They’re all about people consumed by obsession—whether with a sport, an idea, a desire to change, or a drive to make change. My own passion is finding, reporting, and sharing true stories that educate readers about important themes and events, while entertaining them at the same time. I feel very lucky to spend my days doing such work.

  • Executive Producer

  • Executive Creative Director - Scott has received numerous awards for his outstanding work in graphic design and branding. He has partnered with The Getty Museum in Los Angeles, The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, The Washington Post Magazine and The Rain Forest Action Network. Additionally Scott donates his time as the Creative Director at the non-profit Topanga Film Festival as well as a partnering with Craig at cutlerbremner.com

T H E D E T A I L S

Craig will take the readers on a visual journey to the hidden 'gems' or collections of select Natural History Museums in the world.
Working with directors and curators, Craig will photograph the artifacts that the museums consider their most important holdings that are not on view to the public.

Each artifact will have a story and the directors will share their reasons for selecting them. While Craig will create the photo essay, the accompanying text will draw the readers in and impart the importance of each artifact in our shared histories.

While many people focus solely the United States, Craig and Scott decided that the natural history museums would not be confined to the global North or the U.S. - we're looking into museums in South America and other continents, as well as a few museums in the U.S.

There are interesting topics that naturally germinate from this idea and we fully expect to be taken on paths as we do the field work, if the proposal is funded. We fully expect the directors to lead us through the world's history in multidisciplinary sciences and the readers and viewers will get a concise understanding of our planet's history through selected beautifully photographed and filmed objects.

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T H E A P P R O A C H

I will tell this story as a photo essay. Each photograph will have a corresponding video clip that will be lit and shot beautifully. We will also capture B roll for a longer format edited video. We will work with a writer who will interview the directors and curators of the museums. The directors will describe the urgent and timely reasons why they selected the artifacts that I will capture. The images will be shot on film using a 4X5 view camera. Video will also be captured for social media, web and BTS.

T H E P L A N E T

The measure of our success will be in the imagery and the stories that we tell. Documenting the hidden collections of the natural history museums illuminate the wonders of our world. The mystery and beauty of this project is partially the unknown of what we will capture. We will rely on the knowledge of the directors of the museums and the strength of Craig's eye for beauty as he composes each photograph and directs the video. Our goal is to unearth and share the artifacts that make our planet special. For the viewers and readers who cannot travel to these museums and get permission to see what is in the vaults, we will bring these to them.

THANK YOU

All images - Craig Cutler