I love photography, and ever since I became a mom, my number one subject has been my little girl. Since she was born we’ve done so many DIY photoshoots at home, at friends’ houses, and at selfie museums. For babies, it’s really simple to set up a quick backdrop at home, but once they get bigger (and way more mobile), it becomes a lot more challenging.
While there are plenty of professional photographers’ studios around the city, for amateur photography hobbyists like myself, a few hours at a selfie museum wrangling my kid for some adorable themed photos sounds like fun. This past Chinese New Year, I took my daughter and ayi to a local selfie museum, and in about 40 minutes I had about 100 perfectly themed photos ready for my choosing.
Photography museums are essentially places where each room/corner is set with different backdrops. Most places will also have costumes that you can borrow and most keep them in pretty good condition. They’re designed with great lighting in mind and most will have standing selfie sticks with remotes that you can borrow.
Pro tip:
Don’t do it alone. Bring another adult who can help because you’ll need it when your kids get super excited and just wants to run around.
Here are a few selfie museums in Beijing for those who want to try their hand at photography.
Beijing Whimsical Relief Pavilion is an interesting concept. It offers both photo background and stress relief rooms like entire walls decorated with rubber chickens, spinning bikes, and black light pillow fighting rooms. This one is a good option if you want to combine your photography session with some unconventional playtime.
Find it:
2/F, Yintai in88, 88 Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District
东城区 2层 in88, 88王府井大街
Price: Buy your ticket on Dianping for RMB 49.9 per adult.
Van Gogh Art Museum is where you can get all photos Van Gogh themed. Each room is inspired by one of his famous paintings and offers props that’ll help you look like you’re immersed in the artwork itself. The downside to this place is that it’s run more like a modern art museum rather than a selfie museum, which means no costumes or selfie sticks available to borrow.
Find it:
501, 5/F, Wangfujing Bookstore, 281 Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District
东城区 501 5层王府井书店，281 王府井大街
Price: Buy your ticket on Dianping for RMB 49.9 per adult or RMB 99.8 for two people
Seven Years of Costume Selfie Studio is strictly for photos. Built with multiple versatile backgrounds, like art studio, Japanese tea house, ’80s home in China, teenage bedroom, etc., it lets you practice your angles and try out your hand at photography.
Find it:
1901, 19F, Building D, SOHO Modern City, Jianguo Street
1901 19层 建国路SOHO现代城D坐
Price: Buy your ticket on Dianping for RMB 158 for 2 hours of selfie time.
Images: Mina Yan
