Cook County is seeking proposals from photographers to provide high-quality digital images to be featured as a backdrop carousel for a community resource directory website.  The name of the website will be “Thrive Together: A Cook County Community Resource Guide.”  This is a cross-agency initiative, and the final product will be a site that is promoted by all partner agencies with the shared goal of helping residents more easily find and connect with available local resources. 

Scope of Work 

• Delivery of professional, high-resolution electronic images that showcase Cook County and its environment to be used in perpetuity on a County Website. 
• Cook County will give feedback on images before photos are edited, and the photographer submits final proofs 
• Focus on landscape images that showcase Cook County in various seasons, some human or animal figures could be included though this is not a requirement and would not be the focal point of the imagery 

Image requirements

• 1-10 images that meet the description of need 
• Inventory with description of each image for easy identification 
• Final files edited for vibrancy in colors and shading using standard photo editing practices, in high resolution as well as a high quality (300 dpi) web friendly .jpeg version of each 

Ownership and Copyright 

All images delivered as part of this project will become property of Cook County upon the completion of work and the payment in full of the invoice. Cook County has full rights in perpetuity for use of all final deliverables of the project. The photographer will be responsible for acquiring, processing, and submitting the consent of individuals featured in any photography. 

Proposal Submission Guidelines 

Please provide the following information regarding your photography services: 

• A 1-2 paragraph summary of your background, expertise, why you should be selected for this project, and a brief description of what kinds of images you could offer this project 
• Provide links to images for review. Photographers may submit 1-10 images for consideration 
• A clear pricing structure for images. The project budget allows $150-300/photo for up to 10 photos not to exceed $2400 total. 
• Any other information that the photographer believes will be relevant 

Evaluation Criteria:

• All proposals will be evaluated by a small group of reviewers from the various partner agencies involved with the project 
• Content will be judged on based:
  --Ability to reflect our local environment/community through images, based on portfolio samples and 1-2 paragraph summary of proposed work
  --Compliance with project budget
• Reviewers may seek images from multiple photographers to meet the desired scope of work 

Submission Instructions 

All proposals submitted in response to this RFP must be received by Cook County no later than 4 p.m. on January 30th 2026, via email to [email protected] (include Resource Directory Photography RFP in subject line) in a single .pdf attachment.  Notification of contract award by February 9, 2026.  Initial images must be submitted by February 27, 2026, with the ability to provide additional images at a mutually agreed upon timeline to reflect the multiple seasons in Cook County. 

For questions regarding the RFP, please contact [email protected].