Even though the photos have been published in a book that's been out for weeks, still no sighting of them.
If someone has the book, can they please scan it.
It's utterly idiotic and selfish the way the current Palace management is handling this.
They clearly have zero sense of public relations, good business management, or building public goodwill.
When the photos were generously purchased for them you would think they would have gone out of their way to share them with the widest public possible as fast as possible -- to not only share the happiness, but the wider story of the reclamation of their archives, and thereby encourage further donations.
Instead, they've done the exact opposite: hoarding them, treating them like their own precious little state secrets, publishing the book of the photographic archives in a ridiculous edition of just 70 copies, and refusing to sell the book online: one is expected to get on a plane to Russia and trudge out to Pushkin.
What? They're going to reveal them in a popular cheaper edition. Well, whoopee do. It's been an age since the original acquisition, and the heat has long gone out of the story. Another opportunity missed.
There are absolutely NO excuses for this: sharing images online, creating video and press releases, setting up an e-shop costs almost nothing these days. You just need to be motivated and have a commitment to the public.
Instead, they're content to sit on their fat arses and just expect visits and goodwill and donations to roll in.
You only have to look at the way Yale shares all its Romanov albums online. You want the photos? Here they are! And you can zoom in and enjoy them however you want. In other words, they understand these photos aren't just for Yale students and researchers. As pure history, they belong everyone! Everyone in the entire world. And that's how it should be. Another example is British Pathé: they've uploaded their entire 85,000 film archive to YouTube.
No wonder people are rightly sharing GARF images. They're doing the work GARF should be doing!!!!
As far as I'm concerned: f--- 'em all. They won't be getting a donated cent out of me. Certainly not until the current management is removed and proper outward-focused business-minded administrators are installed who put the public first rather than last.
For a museum administrator your public should be EVERYTHING. If you're not making your conversation and interaction with them your primary concern (and these days that should be on a daily basis online), who is your museum for? Oh we get it: just you. So you can play housey there with all your admin co-workers. With the public just a necessary dumb inconvenience. That's the prevailing paradigm. And if you think it isn't, why do the actions reflect it?
Yes, I'm pissed off. And deserve to be. It's pathetic and shameful.
