In the old Acropolis Museum located actually on the Acropolis itself, I never had any problems taking photographs. Within the New Acropolis Museum however, whilst I took many pictures while the building was under construction, I’ve had great difficulty in taking any pictures within the building since the exhibits were in place. Even at the opening in 2009, although people (only a very limited number of invited guests) were allowed to take photos in the lower levels of the building, numerous staff were making sure that no one took photos inside the Parthenon Gallery.

Whilst I can understand that museums make money from selling reproduction rights to items in their collections, I can not see how stopping all photography (when the general tradition in Greece is for museums to allow it) is a move that benefits anyone. In many cases, photographs would have acted as an advert for the museum. The building has already been published in numerous newspapers & magazines, so there is now no secret behind the appearance of the interior (which could have been argued as a reason prior to its opening).

From:
The Times Blogs

August 03, 2010
How much does a picture of the Parthenon cost?

How can we keep the Greek economy afloat? Well, one answer is by asking for permission to reproduce pictures from Greek museums.

Just recently I produced a new edition of my Parthenon book, brought up to date with a new chapter on the new Acropolis Museum (plus all the to-ing and fro-ing about the Elgin Marbles in the years since the first edition came out).
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