No Photography - museum campaign

Student - Holly Merton

Supervisor - The Gordon Museum/Bill Edwards

The Human Tissue Act is a legislation that was passed in 2004, in order to uphold ethical values regarding the use and storage of human tissues. The Gordon Museum therefore adheres to the Human Tissue Act, as it provides a permanent home for thousands of human tissues, which have been collected over the centuries. As a result, the museum operates under a no photography policy, which is a clear cultural component of the museum itself. Whilst this is a clear rule in operation, it is not always clear to students why such restrictions are in place. My poster therefore aims to promote the humanization of these organs, as I feel somewhere along the way this message has been lost. My ‘stalker’ like images depict how it is unacceptable to take photographs of strangers without their permission, so surely the same applies here. I feel as though this takes on a new perspective regarding the relationship between the donor and the visitors, and hopefully promotes some introspection regarding how we can act, think, or rather perhaps ‘feel’ in a more ethical way.