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Major Museums Start Banning Selfie Sticks
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."
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.
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.