A day ago, when I visited Fort Zeelandia in Paramaribo (Suriname), I was busy taking lots of pictures when a curator who spoke better English than I spoke Dutch (not much of a compliment, actually) informed me I could not take pictures inside the museum. I could take pictures outside the museum, but not inside. My first thought was that I had spent $8 SRD to get in (roughly $3 US), but then I remembered having to pay more in the museum in Managua (Nicaragua) so I could take pictures - approximately $2 US more. It isn't really so silly to the keepers and maintainers of the museums; there are costs that have to be covered.
Still, it was awkward to be reminded that not all culture is as free as on the web - significantly less free.
But then, what is the value of an image as opposed to actually being there? Which has more value?
With that in mind, the pictures I had taken inside the Fort(before the discussion)... I deleted. But these sorts of dilemmas cannot be deleted... and they bear some thought.
I did get some nice pictures outside the Fort, which you can find here.
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