Visiting the MFA, with a camera (of course!)

Boston MFA

My daughter (the tiny human in the photo, left) and I recently visited the Boston Museum of Fine Arts together, a trip we’d been trying to pull off for a number of months.  Finally time and circumstance allowed us to make a easy drive into the city this past Sunday.

I love the MFA and have visited it many times before, almost always with a camera in my hand.   The museum is one of those enlightened establishments that allows unlimited hand-held flash-free photography in their museum.  It’s a very kind and egalitarian policy, especially considering that a large part of their profits must be made in their gift shop, which sells goods emblazoned with images of items from their collection. 

 One of my cameras, and Olympus EP-1 compact 35mm digital SLR is quite perfectly suited to this sort of photography.   First, it’s small, and light.  At least for me, the woman who is used to carrying around the grandpappy of Olympus digital SLRs with a battery pack attached!  I can hold it by the strap around the wrist effortlessly for hours with no fatigue whatsoever.  

The controls are extremely easy to use and customizing exposure and white balance is a breeze on the fly.   The shutter isn’t silent, but it’s quiet enough that I feel perfectly OK shooting off frames is a very quiet gallery.  

The zoom lens is sweet as pie, with little distortion and a beautiful zoom range.  It focuses quickly (if you know how to manipulate your camera settings!) and best of all—has image stabilization for those low light situations one will find just about everywhere in a modern museum.   

Then there is the issue that I discussed in my post just before this one (see below), about seeing more, and better, when I have a camera in my hand.  I tend to study the art more, looking at it from angles and perspectives that I might not otherwise check out.  I often include a reference shot to the work by taking a draft photo of the object and its nearby descriptive text, obviously helpful for recalling important information about a piece.  With my short term memory seemingly going the way of a cassette tape walkman (huh?), these nuggets of info are just about the only way I can retain detailed info about the work.   See? I don’t need to buy the book with their photo and caption, I made my own! 

I so enjoy being creative with the images, portraying them in a manner that would never be found in the official museum publications.  The museum’s photos are records, mine can be records, too, but can also be interpretations of the art, at least as far as how it appears within its environment, and the special, creative care applied to it.

Never would I attempt to profit from these images.  I fully understand that these are not my work to sell or profit from in any manner.  But I am able to make a lovely little postcard print for myself to place in a special spot in my home, or to share with a friend who would treasure the piece.   

I support the MFA by purchasing a family membership each year, supporting their special fund raising drives when I can, purchasing quality items in their shops,  and by encouraging others to go visit.   

Thanks to this great Museum, I now have lots of lovely memories of visits, beautiful books by my favorite artists and about standout exhibits, and my own little photo collection of their beautiful art!