Open Forum

Hello all,

I have a situation I could use advice on. A Visitor has contacted me asking if he could come in and personally take professional level pictures of one of our paintings for the purpose of then giving it to a printing company for commercialization, although he says it is not for money but personal use only. He has been rather vague on what this actually means. This is giving me pause.

We allow non-flash photos in our galleries with a few exceptions, knowing that those could be used in any which way. However, he wants us to block off a section of our gallery and allow him access to our lighting systems in order to do this. Something tells me he will ask for more than that as well, but that is more of gut feeling. Staff would have to be present, of course.

Has anyone ever encountered a situation like this? How was it handled? 

I'm leaning towards no, and just telling him he will have to wait until next year when we get the entire collection re-photographed,. then we can do the normal image request exchange. Anyway, thank you all.

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Bonnie Seymour
Registrar and Assistant Curator
The Parthenon Museum
Nashville TN
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Interesting. I'd love to hear what you learn, Bonnie.

Trish

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Trish Crist
Executive Assistant
Frist Art Museum
Nashville TN
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-16-2022 11:13 AM
From: Bonnie Seymour
Subject: Guest taking photos to commercialize...

Hello all,

I have a situation I could use advice on. A Visitor has contacted me asking if he could come in and personally take professional level pictures of one of our paintings for the purpose of then giving it to a printing company for commercialization, although he says it is not for money but personal use only. He has been rather vague on what this actually means. This is giving me pause.

We allow non-flash photos in our galleries with a few exceptions, knowing that those could be used in any which way. However, he wants us to block off a section of our gallery and allow him access to our lighting systems in order to do this. Something tells me he will ask for more than that as well, but that is more of gut feeling. Staff would have to be present, of course.

Has anyone ever encountered a situation like this? How was it handled? 

I'm leaning towards no, and just telling him he will have to wait until next year when we get the entire collection re-photographed,. then we can do the normal image request exchange. Anyway, thank you all.

------------------------------
Bonnie Seymour
Registrar and Assistant Curator
The Parthenon Museum
Nashville TN
------------------------------

Hello,

This seems a bit of a Pandora's Box to me.   From a photography perspective the printer might require a release to print these photos so there's the intellectual property minefield.  I think if word got around that you allowed that you'd be flooded with similar requests.  Speaking from a Security standpoint I'd hate to have to tie up one or more guards to watch over this operation.  My gut agrees with yours that once he shows up the list of demands will grow by the minute and following museum rules and etiquette would go out the window.

This is speculation on my part because I haven't had to deal with this particular request but if it were to come across my desk, I would vote no. 

Best,

Jim

------------------------------
Jim Mooney
Museum Security Supervisor
Currier Museum of Art
Manchester NH
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-16-2022 11:13 AM
From: Bonnie Seymour
Subject: Guest taking photos to commercialize...

Hello all,

I have a situation I could use advice on. A Visitor has contacted me asking if he could come in and personally take professional level pictures of one of our paintings for the purpose of then giving it to a printing company for commercialization, although he says it is not for money but personal use only. He has been rather vague on what this actually means. This is giving me pause.

We allow non-flash photos in our galleries with a few exceptions, knowing that those could be used in any which way. However, he wants us to block off a section of our gallery and allow him access to our lighting systems in order to do this. Something tells me he will ask for more than that as well, but that is more of gut feeling. Staff would have to be present, of course.

Has anyone ever encountered a situation like this? How was it handled? 

I'm leaning towards no, and just telling him he will have to wait until next year when we get the entire collection re-photographed,. then we can do the normal image request exchange. Anyway, thank you all.

------------------------------
Bonnie Seymour
Registrar and Assistant Curator
The Parthenon Museum
Nashville TN
------------------------------

Follow up:

After reading your responses and consulting a few people here, I have turned the person down and offered him the usual image request application. We plan to re-photo our collection anyway, so if he is willing to wait, he will have to be content with that. The situation allowed for to much unpredictable elements, mostly negative. In light of that, I will be reviewing our photography policies as well. If anyone would like to share their policies, advise, or experiences regarding their institutions photography policies, I would be most grateful. 

Thanks so much everyone!

------------------------------
Bonnie Seymour
Registrar and Assistant Curator
The Parthenon Museum
Nashville TN
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-16-2022 11:13 AM
From: Bonnie Seymour
Subject: Guest taking photos to commercialize...

Hello all,

I have a situation I could use advice on. A Visitor has contacted me asking if he could come in and personally take professional level pictures of one of our paintings for the purpose of then giving it to a printing company for commercialization, although he says it is not for money but personal use only. He has been rather vague on what this actually means. This is giving me pause.

We allow non-flash photos in our galleries with a few exceptions, knowing that those could be used in any which way. However, he wants us to block off a section of our gallery and allow him access to our lighting systems in order to do this. Something tells me he will ask for more than that as well, but that is more of gut feeling. Staff would have to be present, of course.

Has anyone ever encountered a situation like this? How was it handled? 

I'm leaning towards no, and just telling him he will have to wait until next year when we get the entire collection re-photographed,. then we can do the normal image request exchange. Anyway, thank you all.

------------------------------
Bonnie Seymour
Registrar and Assistant Curator
The Parthenon Museum
Nashville TN
------------------------------