Comments on: The Great “No Flash Photography” Scam

By: Paragon_X

Paragon_X — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:51:00 +0000

mhmhmhm i always thought this was an expired measure for the old cameras were they used tha powder to make light….

By: BloggaMom

BloggaMom — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:56:10 +0000

I think there are two other thoughts not mentioned–or maybe not clearly enough for me. The places showing these pieces of art you want to photo are making a living by getting you to pay to see them. If there are lots of photos floating around then why go and look? They are providing oppotunity for postcards and such of expertly photographed items without Billy or Sally cropping into your pic and like others said, not getting their experience runied by your flashes or demands of people to move….. and also providing lights, air conditioning, guards to protect the stuff….. are you trying to rip off the gift shop by taking your own pics? This is a business and you are trying to cheat them. Follow the rules. They have the RIGHT TO MAKE THEM.
Another thought–is the desire to look, photo, preserve and gawk at these relics what the Creator would want us to do? Are we supposed to be so enamoured with the PAST that we fail to live up to what we should be doing in the present? So much of ‘history’ is MADE UP–fabricated from old relics and stories and accounts embellished until we don’t really know anything. We all get sucked into the imagined history and do not look at the RECORDED history of the Holy Scriptures. How does seeing some old thing change how we live our lives today? After learning a lot about old Egyptian art I now see much of the forms and patterns repeated in modern things. According to the ‘experts’ many of the symbols were supposed to mean something and we are throwing them around in our jewelry and clothing like they are just pretty things free for the public to embrace and exploit for the new look. Where using a swastika would offend many because of what it stood for 50 years ago and we know who used it and what happened, what do these new things actually signify?
Be careful.
You want your limits respected. Respect those of the museums you visit. And be careful what you are worshipping.

By: Michael Glenn’s Blog » Blog Archive » Please Explain AGO Policies

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:55:03 +0000

[...] flash photography is acceptable. Both because it may have a small deteriorating affect on the art (though this is debatable) but because it’s just distracting. I would prefer if they had no flash photography instead. [...]

By: kd

kd — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 03:36:37 +0000

I am a professional art restorer, specializing in oils and frescos. I would love a ban on cameras in Museums, just because they are annoying. I am also looking for more scientific data to back up the claims that flashes fade art.

Based on the data you have unearthed. This is more then just “No big deal.” When you take into consideration large European museums like the Vatican which sees and estimated 35,000 visitors per day on average.

If there were no rules about flashes, figure 35,000 flashes inside the sistine chapel everyday. Divided by 300. amateur camera users. that is 117 (5 minute segments,) which ads up to almost 10 hours of of exposure to a light which peaks at 5500Â° Kelvin. This is more then just “no big deal.” This could seriously damage a work of in less then a decade.

Granted, only a handful of museums see this kind of traffic everyday in the world, but if you visit one of these world class museums on any given day, you’ll still see hundreds of flashes going off in a 2 hour visit.

If a standard of behavior was set and enforced for museum visitors consistently, it is more likely the rules will be observed more frequently in places where they really do make a difference.

By: Paul Amaroli

Paul Amaroli — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 21:53:10 +0000

I arrived here searching for opinions on the issue of flash damage since our foundation is assuming the administration of two small museums at archaeological sites in Central America. These receive between about 2,000 and 4,000 visitors a month. The materials displayed are ceramics, lithics and wood, in addition to graphics and text. No textiles, no copyright issues.

Up to now there had been a ban on flash photography and camcorders. We lifted the latter, which seemed senseless to all involved. The no-flash mandate is thorny, however, having originated with museum conservation staff. Perhaps significant to the thread of messages posted here is that a great many vistors have cameras with automatic flash (though they may be desactivated, the owners usually do not know how to do this). The museum guards deal with this by usually banning cameras in general, resulting in the most common complaint from visitors. I share the opinion that distracting activities should be minimal in museums, like cellphones and noisiness in general, but I take the occasional flash as a sign that someone is interested in what they are seeing and may never see again except in that image they have just captured.