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Major Museums Start Banning Selfie Sticks

Posted by samzenpus on from the put-down-the-stick dept.

An anonymous reader shares these articles about museums banning the dreaded selfie stick. "Selfie sticks, the logical 'extension' of an already irksome activity, were recently banned in Premier League soccer stadiums. Now museums around the world are starting to do the same over worries of accidental damage to artwork. The Smithsonian barred their use effective last week as a 'preventative measure to protect visitors and museum objects,' especially on crowded days. Meanwhile, a formal ban is pending at Versailles palace and Centre Pompidou in France, and visitors are now being told to stow their sticks by guards at the Louvre. Both Pompidou and the Louvre will continue to allow regular photography and selfies."

6 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. Good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When I was in the Louvre last year, I was amazed at what was going on in front of the Mona Lisa. Most people had their backs to it.

    There were more people preoccupied with getting a photograph of themselves in front of it than there were people looking at the damn thing.

    Same story at Venus de Milo statue.

    An observation that I made (and this is nothing more than an observation) is that everyone wielding a selfie stick and not looking at the art was Asian.

    1. Re:Good. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      In my experience, when visiting historic items of this nature, you have 30-60 seconds to stand in its presence, before getting crowded out, or being asked to move along. Why not get a photo of you and your friends to capture the moment? It is not like you are going to close enough, or the time to study it in any significant way. For better or worse, it is more about the journey than the destination.

    2. Re:Good. by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Why would you waste time looking at the real Mona Lisa when you've seen it everywhere since you were a kid?

      You've seen reproductions. At best, printed photographs. It's not the same thing. Which, incidentally, is why taking a selfie with it exactly misses the point.

  2. Re:Plans to 3D print a selfie stick? by SomeWhiteGuy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I like the idea of the 3D printer mainly because I have 2 small kids and a dog, so toys are broken or chewed quite often. Being able to print new parts and figures overnight as a treat is a nice idea. My problem is the $4k price tag on one plus the plastics and other work once printed. I like it being popular because more and more things are being made for the hobby, but I'd like the demand to come down, and the price for the basics to get started.

  3. Re:Sure about the Louvre? by mrbene · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The "I don't speak French" tactic was what my dad and I used when I visited a couple of decades ago. I seem to remember it being no flash photography at that time, as well.

    It was a legitimate language barrier. We later had a heck of a time getting our taxi driver to stop so that we could hop out and see the Shuttle being ferried over Paris on a big plane. Once he understood, he seemed rather happy that we had.

  4. Good riddaance by EmagGeek · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was at the Museum of Natural History in DC a few weeks ago and got hit in the face more than once with those stupid things. I complained to the curator's office before I left, and I'm glad I'm apparently not alone in doing so.

    Nobody's going to run off with your camera. Just ask someone nearby to take a photo of you.