This is an interesting comment because this was always my belief...but not
long ago a visitor to our museum, who had worked at the Smithsonian or some
other large institution(can't exactly remember where) said that the flash
photography was prohibited for insurance reasons, i.e. a crook could be
casing the joint, I guess.  Anyone know about this?  I'd only ever heard
about it from the conservation or reproduction standpoint.

Candace Perry
Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center
www.schwenkfelder.com



-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Riva Feshbach
Sent: Monday, April 22, 2002 12:25 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Photographing in Exhibits


In addition to conservation issues, taking photos in exhibits is
often restricted because institutions understandably prefer to
maintain control over the reproduction and dissemination of images of
their collections.

Like "bootleg" recordings of concerts, bootleg photography of
collections is never done under ideal conditions, so institutions
worry about cruddy reproductions of their work being circulated.  To
say nothing of the loss of the revenue that comes through fees for
photography and rights of reproduction.

I know...I know...most people taking snapshots in exhibits are doing
it for their scrapbooks not for publication.

Riva Feshbach


>Shawn,
>
>Yes, there are good reasons to forbid repeated exposure to flash
photography
>in an exhibit or gallery setting.  You don't want 1000 visitors per day
>popping flashes at the same objects.  Also, in the days of flashbulbs,
there
>was always the risk that a flashbulb might explode, showering glass shards.
>This is certainly a good rule for museum visitors.  But you asked about the
>staff photographing and/or scanning collection objects, presumably in a
>controlled setting, and that's the difference.  A single, 1/1000 of a
second
>blast from an electronic flash is definitely safer than ten minutes under
hot
>floodlights, and many museum photographers, on the advice of conservators,
>have been doing it that way for decades.  Although I'm not a conservator
>myself, I'm a photographic historian and have done a lot of flash
photography
>with 19th-century photographs, so I have some knowledge in this area.
>
>I can try to find a supporting reference for you if you still don't believe
>me, but it will have to wait a day or two.
>
>David Haberstich
>
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--
Riva Feshbach
Exhibits Manager
The Newberry Library
60 West Walton Street
Chicago, IL 60610
312-255-3536
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