Here’s the Latest Museum to Ban the Selfie Stick

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A couple use a 'selfie stick' to take a photo at a popular tourist spot in Seoul on Nov. 26, 2014.
A couple use a 'selfie stick' to take a photo at a popular tourist spot in Seoul on Nov. 26, 2014.Ed Jones—AFP/Getty Images
By Sam Frizell

Visitors to London’s National Gallery can leave their selfie sticks at home, after the preeminent museum became the latest to ban the photo-taking devices for fear of damaging the artwork.

“Due to the recent popularity of selfie sticks, the National Gallery preferred to take precautionary measures,” a museum spokeswoman told AFP.

Selfie sticks are the wildly popular extending rods that can be fitted with a smartphone for a different angle self-portrait. They’ve been banned at a number of museums, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Washington D.C.’s National Gallery. The Centre Pompidou and the Louvre are considering bans.

London’s National Gallery is classifying selfie sticks as tripods, which are not permitted under the National Gallery’s rules.

MORE: How the Selfie Stick Is Killing the Selfie

[AFP]

See The 10 Best Space Selfies Ever Taken

Gemini 12 astronaut Buzz Aldrin snaps a picture of himself during a spacewalk in November 1966. Credit: NASA
Gemini 12 astronaut Buzz Aldrin takes a selfie during a spacewalk in Nov. 1966. NASA
Astronaut Stephen K. Robinson, STS-114 mission specialist, used a digital camera to expose a photo of his helmet visor during the third Extravehicular Activity EVA of the mission. Also visible in the reflection are thermal protection tiles on Space Shuttle Discovery's under Aug. 3, 2005.
Astronaut Stephen K. Robinson takes a selfie during a spacewalk on Aug. 3, 2005.Stephen K. Robinson—NASA
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used the camera at the end of its arm in April and May 2014 to take dozens of component images combined into this self-portrait where the rover drilled into a sandstone target called "Windjana." The camera is the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), which previously recorded portraits of Curiosity at two other important sites during the mission: "Rock Nest" (http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16468) and "John Klein" (http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16937).Winjana is within a science waypoint site called "The Kimberley," where sandstone layers with different degrees of resistance to wind erosion are exposed close together.The view does not include the rover's arm. It does include the hole in Windjana produced by the hammering drill on Curiosity's arm collecting a sample of rock powder from the interior of the rock. The hole is surrounded by grayish cuttings on top of the rock ledge to the left of the rover. The Mast Camera (Mastcam) atop the rover's remote sensing mast is pointed at the drill hole. A Mastcam image of the drill hole from that perspective is at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=0626MR0026780000401608E01_DXXX&s=626. The hole is 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) in diameter. The rover's wheels are 20 inches (0.5 meter) in diameter.Most of the component frames of this mosaic view were taken during the 613th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (April 27, 2014). Frames showing Windjana after completion of the drilling were taken on Sol 627 (May 12, 2014). The hole was drilled on Sol 621 (May 5, 2014).MAHLI was built by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover.> NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover Marks First Martian Year with Mission Suc
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used the camera at the end of its arm in April and May 2014 to take dozens of component images combined into this selfie.JPL-Caltech/MSSS/NASA
JAXA astronaut Aki Hoshide takes a self-portrait during Expedition 32 in September 2012. “Visible in this outworldly assemblage is the Sun, the Earth, two portions of a robotic arm, an astronaut’s spacesuit, the deep darkness of space, and the unusual camera taking the picture,” NASA wrote. Credit: NASA
JAXA astronaut Aki Hoshide takes a selfie in Sept. 2012. Aki Hoshide—NASA
ESA Astronaut Alexander Gerst takes a selfie during a spacewalk on Oct. 7, 2014.
ESA Astronaut Alexander Gerst takes a selfie during a spacewalk on Oct. 7, 2014.Alexander Gerst—ESA
A self-portrait of the Opportunity rover shortly after dust cleared its solar panels in March 2014.
The Opportunity Rover on Mars takes a selfie shortly after dust cleared its solar panels in March 2014.JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Arizona State University/NASA
The 3.2 gigapixel Global Selfie mosaic was made with 36,422 individual selfies that were posted to social media sites on or around Earth Day, April 22, 2014. NASA
This selfie composed of two different images shows the Rosetta spacecraft as it soars past a comet on Oct. 7, 2014.
This selfie composed of two different images shows the Rosetta spacecraft as it soars past a comet on Oct. 7, 2014.Rosetta/Philae/CIVA/ESA
Expedition 35 Flight Engineers Tom Marshburn (pictured) and Chris Cassidy (out of frame) completed a space walk at 2:14 p.m. EDT May 11 to inspect and replace a pump controller box on the International Space Station’s far port truss (P6) leaking ammonia coolant. The two NASA astronauts began the 5-hour, 30-minute space walk at 8:44 a.m.
Expedition 35 astronaut Tom Marshburn takes a selfie during a spacewalk on May 11, 2013. Tom Marshburn—NASA
Gemini 10 astronaut Mike Collins takes a selfie in July 1966.
Gemini 10 astronaut Mike Collins takes a selfie in July 1966. Mike Collins—Arizona State University/JSC//NASA

 

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