George Eastman Museum (Kodak) Photography Policy

For anyone familiar, skip this paragraph. For anyone unfamiliar, George Eastman started the Eastman Kodak company in Rochester NY. His estate was restored to near-original condition, a photography/art gallery and theaters were added, and it was opened as a museum. For many years, this place has been a staple of the photography community in the area allowing open access to the beautiful gardens with reasonably loose restrictions on utilizing the spaces for amateur/hobby and even professional photography. George Eastman started Kodak to shift the entire photography industry from an exclusive professional club, to something the average consumer could pick up and afford.

There are now rumors circulating that the museum plans to effectively ban the use of any camera that is not a cell phone for any planned shoots through a blanket contract requirement costing $400/hour. If true, this will be prohibitively expensive for hobbyists and low-income professionals. NO OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT HAS BEEN MADE YET, but the rumors do appear to have some merit. It seems to be in response to some major issues they've had on the grounds.

I want to encourage everyone to take measured actions and speak up through appropriate channels. DO NOT jump to conclusions or harass museum employees. Please do not prove them right and make the situation worse. Understand that they're moving from a position where they need to take action and implement something that will be ENFORCEABLE to effectively mitigate the issues they're having. I recommend that any objections include a suitable alternate policy that can serve as a middle ground. Please be thoughtful and respectful.