Most photographers solve delivery once and never revisit it. A gallery link, a Dropbox folder, maybe a WeTransfer for the raw files. For a family session or a corporate headshot, that is completely fine.
For boudoir, maternity, intimate portrait or personal documentary work, it is not. The images are the kind a client would be genuinely distressed to see circulate, and the standard tools were not designed with that in mind.
This guide is about that narrower problem: how to deliver sensitive photos to a client in a way that respects what they are.
Why the Usual Tools Fall Short Here
- Email. Attachments sit in two inboxes indefinitely, get backed up to two providers, and are one forwarded thread away from somewhere neither of you intended.
- Cloud share links. A link is a credential anyone can pass on. Most are unlisted rather than access-controlled, and once someone has the URL, revoking it later does not retrieve what was already downloaded.
- Public-facing galleries. Client gallery platforms are excellent at proofing and sales, but many default to web-accessible pages and search engine visibility that you have to remember to turn off.
- Messaging apps. Compressed, and now stored in a chat history that may be backed up to a third cloud.
None of these are broken. They are simply built for convenience of access, and sensitive work needs the opposite default.
What Sensitive Delivery Actually Requires
- Access by person, not by link. You should be able to see exactly who can open the gallery, and remove someone.
- No public surface. Nothing indexed, nothing guessable, no username to search.
- Control over copies. The client should be able to view without every viewer being able to save and redistribute.
- A lock on the client’s end too. Delivery is only half of it. If the images then sit in their camera roll, anyone who picks up their phone sees them.
That fourth point is the one photographers most often miss. You can deliver perfectly and still have the images end up in the least private place on your client’s phone.
Where Our Eyes Only Fits
Our Eyes Only is a private vault, and for this specific use it works well. You share an album with a specific person using a private friend code - there are no searchable usernames, so nobody finds the gallery by looking you up. You can see exactly who has access and remove it at any time.
If your client wants to save an image you added, they have to request it and you decide. You can also blur individual photos so they appear covered until you are ready, and leave private notes inside the album for selection or feedback.
On the client’s side, the images live in their vault behind their own access code and optional Face ID, not in their camera roll. For the most sensitive sets, they can move the album into the Hidden section, which opens only with a second separate code.
Being Honest About What This Is Not
Our Eyes Only is not a client gallery platform, and pretending otherwise would waste your time. It does not do watermarking, print sales, proofing workflows, contracts, invoicing, or studio branding. If you need those, a dedicated platform is the right tool and you should use one.
What this is good for is the narrower job of getting sensitive images to one person privately, and giving them somewhere safe to keep them. Plenty of photographers use a full gallery platform for their standard work and something like this for the sessions where privacy is the whole point.
A Practical Workflow
- Finish your edit and export the delivery set as you normally would.
- Create an album in Our Eyes Only for that client and session.
- Add the images. Blur any you want to reveal later, and add notes if the client is selecting favourites.
- Share the album with the client using their private friend code.
- Handle save requests as they come in, so you know which images have been copied.
- Once the client confirms they have what they need, remove access if that is what your agreement says.
Talk About It Before the Shoot
Clients booking intimate sessions are usually anxious about exactly this, and often too polite to raise it. Explaining your delivery method during the booking conversation does two things: it answers a worry they already have, and it distinguishes you from photographers who have not thought about it.
Put it in writing as well. How images are delivered, how long you retain them, and what happens to your own copies afterwards belong in your contract, not just in a conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Our Eyes Only a replacement for a client gallery platform?
No. It does not offer watermarking, proofing, print sales, invoicing or studio branding. It is suited to delivering sensitive images privately to one person.
How do I share a gallery with a client?
You add them using a private friend code and share the album with them specifically. There are no searchable usernames, so nobody can find it by looking you up.
Can I stop a client from saving images?
Anyone who wants to save a photo you added has to request permission first, and you decide whether to allow it.
Can I remove access after delivery?
Yes. You can see exactly who has access to a shared album and remove someone at any time.
Where do the photos sit on the client’s phone?
In their vault behind their own access code, not in their camera roll. They can move the album into the Hidden section for a second code.