In this article in the Washington Post, Anne Midgette writes about the current state of museumgoers and it’s certainly worth reading. We can all relate and easily fall into her observations. She notes that museumgoers do not do much except go to the museum and take photos of the artwork. Few stop to analyze the works of art. They basically just replicate it on their phones and cameras. This really had me thinking. This is my habit. I just take photos of photos and pictures. (Of course, that is becoming less true of taking this class.) If we think about this ac, it’s very useless because all of these photos are on the internet. A simple Google search can bring you to the paintings of Monet. These are likely better than any photo you would have taken anyways. If you want a replicated image, you have the internet. If you go to the museum, go and enjoy the fact the real one is right there, right in front of you.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/on-the-prowl-for-memories-museumgoers-resort-to-snapshots/2013/10/03/051d5924-2790-11e3-b3e9-d97fb087acd6_story.html
Hi Alex,
Your post really got me thinking about my own habits when I visit museums or galleries. I must admit, I like to take pictures of anything and everything that I see that catches my eye. But at the end of the day, I don’t really do anything else with those pictures after I’ve taken them. I think this is because we live in such a digital age that using technology has become our habit. Why do we think it is so important to take a camera-phone photo of that Andy Warhol piece? Or that painting by Van Gogh? It might be because we want physical proof that we were lucky enough to have actually been there to see the “real deal.” Also, the act of taking the picture distracts us from really looking at a piece of art. We’re so focused on taking the perfect picture of it that we forget to really “look” at that artwork and analyze the meaning behind it. I wonder, is that why some museums don’t allow photos to be taken of the works?