In the museums of New York is not a place for tripods for selfie?

Tripods, monopods, or simply selfie sticks, as some sources call them, are a relatively new trend, but tourists with smartphones attached to these devices have already become a common sight on the streets of New York. They strive to take the perfect selfie with Times Square, the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building in the background.

But the photos with the sights of fascination with the "trophy" selfie, as a rule, is not limited. In New York, with its unique museums, tourists are waiting for an opportunity to be imprinted on the background of famous works of art.

The fascination with monopods for selfie has led to the fact that many museums in New York have forbidden to bring these devices with them, and some do not even allow making any selfies, even without tripods.

So did the Brooklyn Museum, banning to take selfies in their networks “because of fears that visitors will damage the exhibits or push other museum guests”, his representative explained to AM New York journalists. The Brooklyn Museum is allowed to take ordinary photos “for personal use” and without flash.

The Solomon Guggenheim Museum only allows you to use tripods and take selfies on the first floor of a building. The Museum of Modern Art (Museum of Modert Art; MOMA) is not against selfie as such, but will have to part with monopods when visiting it.

The Museum of Latin American Art El Museo del Barrio in Harlem and the Metropolitan Museum have not yet banned selfie sticks, but are already thinking about it.

“They [visitors] can’t concentrate on the art when all they’re thinking about is how to take a better selfie. In addition, our museum has many balconies, fountains and open galleries. Taking selfies can be very dangerous,” says Sri Srinivasan, who is in charge of technology at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Today, in some halls of the museum, any photography is prohibited due to the fragility of ancient exhibits, and video is prohibited in all premises of the Metropolitan.

When barring selfies, museums face a dilemma. On the one hand, they lose the source of free advertising: as a rule, selfies get into social networks, where their owners tell their friends about visiting the museum and their impressions. On the other hand, the very concept of self, in the opinion of some art historians and museum staff, devalues ​​objects of art, turning them only as a background for low-quality amateur photos.