Alan Edward Klein
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This is me explaining Manet's brush strokes at the Getty Museum in California. Taken with a small digital camera.
I would advise that one not pull out a camera in the Sistine Chapel. I've seen too many people called out (loudly) to even think about trying to take a picture in there. (Not that I would, anyway. Sometimes it's ok to simply observe a work of wonder.)
I remember that, the constant calling outs were very funny...
What did they have the Swiss guards running around spearing people? "Lower your camera , sir."
This is me explaining Manet's brush strokes at the Getty Museum in California. Taken with a small digital camera.
More or less. They were a bunch of them mainly watching from some distance to the crowd and yelling very loud while staring at you something like: No photos! Everybody was trying to take photos, so you can imagine the situation.
I think they were Carabinieri actually.
I'm surprised a guard didn't ask you to step away from the painting.This is me explaining Manet's brush strokes at the Getty Museum in California. Taken with a small digital camera.
I'm surprised a guard didn't ask you to step away from the painting.
When I went to the Louvre in 2006 they asked me to store my K1000 in a locker. They did me a great favour. All those people who looked at the Venus de Milo through their phone, not me. I looked.
I would advise that one not pull out a camera in the Sistine Chapel. I've seen too many people called out (loudly) to even think about trying to take a picture in there. (Not that I would, anyway. Sometimes it's ok to simply observe a work of wonder.)
What did they have the Swiss guards running around spearing people? "Lower your camera , sir."
I do not know if this is the right section, so moderators, please move this post to the appropriate section if needed.
I was wondering about people’s experience when taking photos in museums, their respective policies and how they are enforced.. both in the US and Europe, probably also in Asia..
First, museums vs cameras.. I take pictures with my Rollei Hy6, not as a professional photographer but just as an amateur whose family has used Rolleis for a long time and likes their rendition. Yet, it seems that to many museums, the size of the camera classifies me as a professional, and they can either accept that I am not after giving me a strong warning, or not accept it at all… With digital backs or color films that do not go over ISO 800/30°, no flash of course, my pictures will certainly be much blurrier than those made with modern compacts or camera phones, yet museums seem to still consider size a primary factor.. Imagine, I may try selling a blurry photo of what’s in the museum!.. I tried to explain them that not every Porsche driver on the highway is a professional car racer, but they did not want to understand the comparison…
Second, lenses. In a museum I visited last week, on top of giving me the lecture on professional photos, I was told it was forbidden to switch lenses! Again, a modern compact with zoom and CMOS sensor with high sensitivity plus image stabilization would take much better pictures than my camera that does not have all these modern functions, whether I change lenses or not.
Third, regarding the flash. I would never use flash when taking pictures of paintings inside a museum. Yet I have been forbidden to use flash at a classic car exhibition that took place in a museum (although there was no danger of car color fading…), and conversely I have seen many people who did not control their phone properly and took pictures with the phone light, without a word from the guards.
Fourth, backpacks. Although I understand the fear of museums that someone with a backpack turns quickly and bumps over a statue or another visitor, carrying a backpack in the front or holding it by hand is not practical at all, when the museum declines any responsibility for items left at the coat check. The traditional rope barriers have worked well in the past to protect pieces of art by giving enough space around them where people cannot be, so why aren’t they used anymore? And it is everyone’s responsibility to pay attention to whomever may be behind and in front oneself.
All in all, it seems that museums are getting paranoid about photos, for some obvious reasons but with restrictions that make me want to stay out of these places…
Have you experienced similar situations?
All digital camera including phones were allowed to take photographs. Specifically film cameras were banded.
Yesterday we went to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. All digital camera including phones were allowed to take photographs. Specifically film cameras were banded. I was planning on storing my camera in my pack to ease of movement walking around so I did not bother to discuss to obvious logical contradiction. Someone from the Netherlands can carry on the fight.
To get around this, maybe we should start clipping on a LCD screen on the back of our film cameras with a generic set of images to display and pretend to chimp...
My cynical take on this is not a misunderstanding, but the rigid, dogmatic approach that large institutions tend to exhibit in their policies, regardless of logic.
Yesterday we went to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. All digital camera including phones were allowed to take photographs. Specifically film cameras were banded. I was planning on storing my camera in my pack to ease of movement walking around so I did not bother to discuss to obvious logical contradiction. Someone from the Netherlands can carry on the fight.
Doesn't capture the essence or doesn't diminish it? And why do you think so? IMO, a photo of a painting can never reproduce seeing it in person. However, any art or photo cannot be fully appreciated in bad viewing conditions--poor lighting, glare or crowds surrounding it, plus the ability to step back or get reasonably close.Film captures the essence of the painting and diminishes it. Digital doesn't.
That's quite different from the policy as it's posted on their website. The way I read it, it's as follows:
* Photography only permitted in specifically designated areas
* Any photography of the artwork in the exhibition rooms is forbidden
No distinction is made between cameras/phones etc.
A misunderstanding, perhaps?
To get around this, maybe we should start clipping on a LCD screen on the back of our film cameras with a generic set of images to display and pretend to chimp...
My cynical take on this is not a misunderstanding, but the rigid, dogmatic approach that large institutions tend to exhibit in their policies, regardless of logic.
Film captures the essence of the painting and diminishes it. Digital doesn't.
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