A number of museums throughout the city, including the Brooklyn Museum, the MoMA, and the recently re-opened Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, are banning the camera extension devices as an increasing number of museums around the country worry that the use of selfie sticks will be a distraction and a safety hazard, Mashable reports.
“This really is a safety issue for our visitors and for our objects on view,” Jennifer Northrop, the communications and marketing director of Cooper-Hewitt, told amNY. A MoMA spokesperson, meanwhile, told Mashable that the selfie stick ban is part of the museum’s existing policy. “We have never permitted visitors to take photos with camera-extension devices,” she said.
Others, like the Met and El Museo del Barrio, are currently considering a ban. Chief digital officer at the Met Sree Sreenivasan told Mashable, “I’m worried about visitor safety and protecting our art.” Where museums are already concerned with visitors tripping into artworks selfie sticks add another element of danger. “They can’t pay attention when they’re taking these selfies, and we have balconies and open water that can be very dangerous,” Sreenivasan said to amNY.
(Photo: Kristofer Palmvik)
