Taking photos inside Vancouver Museum of Anthropology

One of the nice things about UBC's Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, besides the extraordinary collection of artifacts and artwork, is their policy on photography.  The museum allows visitors to take all of the personal photography desired.

I think this policy makes the museum lots more effective in achieving its goals:

• "The mission of the Museum of Anthropology is to investigate, preserve, and present objects and expressions of human creativity in order to promote understanding of and respect for world cultures." (more)

I've taken plenty of pictures at the museum and have several printed and hanging on my walls. For any visitors to the museum, having a set of pictures makes the experience easier to commit to memory.  I've visited many other museums around the world and the one I remember the most is the Museum of Anthropology, probably because it is the only one where I could take pictures of the artifacts that interested me.

 There are lots of display cases like the one pictured above.  Taking pictures of the masks and other artifacts can yield some great photos, though taking photos in this section of the museum is a little more challenging because of the low lighting conditions.

In other areas of the museum, the lighting is just fine.

According to the filming and photography page on the Vancouver Museum of Anthropology website here, a form needs to be filled out for taking commercial photography but personal use photography is fine under these conditions (on the photography application form):

• "Photography for personal use is permitted without having to sign this form, UNLESS tripods, monopods, lights, etc are required for use. In that case, the form must be filled out."

Be aware though that the museum of undergoing renovations, some of which will not be completed until 2010.  It is still worth a trip in 2009 nonetheless.

Happy photo taking!