Submitted by julie dermansky, Feb 7, 2007 11:06

frankly without the use of a tripod it is impossible with a high-end digital camera to get a good shot- good enough for quality reproduction , say poster size of a painting in a museum. if the museums want more turnover in their gift shops maybe they should make there products more affordable or their admissions to their institutions less expensive. $1 for a post card is an astronomical mark up from production cost. what is most important is that people are drawn to view the work and if they want a snap shot more power to them. you don't honestly think someone can get rich off a reproduction of a painting taken on a cell phone do you? since museums main interest is suppose to be sharing the work with the public , not supporting artists ( you dont see much of the proceeds from the gift shops going into artist s pockets) i am not too worried about their gift shot revenues. i think it is more about control. museums want to control as much as they can.

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