To be rude to this woman in an art gallery

[hengelian]

I was in an exhibition in a large London gallery today, totally engrossed in the art works. I was staring at a painting and a woman interrupted me to ask me to take a photo of her in front of it.

I did it but I was quite off with her about it and probably a bit rude (said 'umm.. ok', took one photo and walked away, didn't ask her if it was OK etc).

I find it really rude that she interrupted me in an art gallery - to me this is like being interrupted in the middle of a movie at the cinema. I was experiencing a whole thought process which she dragged me out of so she could have a photo of a work she didn't even properly look at.

Art galleries aren't there for photos, they are there for you to look and experience.

AIBU?

Did she look incredibly similar to someone in the painting?

Sure a bit annoying but far out you come across as too intense

Me too!

You should of followed her round the whole gallery and asked her to take your picture with every painting she stopped to look at 🤣

You could have said no.

I love art, I love galleries but this wouldn’t annoy me. I wouldn’t do it personally but people can enjoy themselves in whatever way they want.

I thought most galleries didn't allow photos? I assume you checked the flash wasn't on? Bit odd to want a photo- but your reaction was disproportionate!

YABU - I've worked in galleries the last 10 years.

Your way of experiencing an artwork is just one of many, and is not the 'right' way. There's no such thing. There's whole SWATHES of theory that say viewing in the way you describe is symptomatic of the worst aspects of capitalist culture.

All anyone who works in one wants is a visitor to have is a meaningful engagement with the art. What that means is very different for different people, for different art, different places, etc etc. Families with kids shouldn't be hushed as if the only way to enjoy and experience art is in silent reverence as if it's some holy icon. They can chat, laugh, tell stories, be animated, whatever!

Similarly, if someone wants a record of themselves with art that means something to them, that's a nice thing. Our phones are visual diaries nowadays. I'm not a selfie-taker but the half dozen or so I've ever done are in front of artworks that I've loved.

There's obviously a whole debate about selfie culture as a whole - needing to validate an experience by documenting it. When I went to the Louvre for the first time as an adult about 8 years ago I made the 'pilgrimage' to the Mona Lisa. I honestly couldn't believe what happened - everyone facing with their BACKS to this masterpiece so they could take selfies. It was unbelievable.

So, there is an issue in there, but that's not about galleries, that's about selfie culture.

In galleries, people should be free to engage how they want. Someone interrupted you in your engagement, but it clearly wasn't deliberately rude, and you could have gone back and looked again.

I think you're both being unreasonable - the other woman for wanting a photo of herself in front of a painting and you for being so intense and reacting rudely.

There’s a lot of research suggesting that people remember exhibitions better if they take a picture.

And most people go to galleries for a social experience as well as to learn something. So you’re unreasonable to expect everyone to interact with the art in exactly the same way as you.

Do you often struggle to be a nice person when faced with a normal and polite request? It’s not like you missed the painting doing something or had multiple interruptions. I find this a really weird response.

@Echio why would you be shocked people took a pic of themselves with the Mona Lisa to memorialise the moment. My experience was similar but the amazing thing about the human body is its ability to turn and change the direction it’s facing pretty quickly. Out of all the pictures in the Louvre I felt the Mona Lisa was over rated and far more spectacular paintings surrounded it… but art is very personal.

😄😄

I really admire anyone who could get close enough to the Mona Lisa to take a picture. There was a huge crowd in front of it when I last went to the Louvre.

Yabu
Gone are the days where people walk around galleries as if in a library. This is why galleries and curatorial staff invest $$$$$ into engagement programmes. This is why they give your children a ‘treasure hunt’ on the way in , or why they organise late night viewings , or cultural programmes to entice local communities that otherwise wouldn’t step foot in a gallery. The more people in the door and engaging with the work, the better.
your way of viewing art is your way only (if a teeny bit pretentious perhaps )

You precious snob!

And personally if I go to a gallery that’s full of teenagers on school trips, talking about how shit it all is and how they could do that, and mad toddlers whose parents use the art gallery for the café and the clean toilets… I think yes! That place is really doing a good job! Because that gallery is enticing a full cross section of the population, not just the privileged few.
Galleries that don’t manage this are really failing at their cultural responsibility. If a gallery is bringing the Instagram crowd who are there for the likes, fabulous, they’ve managed to tap in to a different demographic!

@Echio That's interesting. How do they link the immersion in art with capitalism?

I always thought that it was more of a yearning for a pre-capitalist religious experience. So looking for transcendence from our humdrum existence, we make pilgrimage (as you say) to the cathedrals of art and learning, trying to find meaning in something we can only ever partially comprehend.

The Mona Lisa thing is fascinating. I always think the selfie thing is a bit like those old portraits where they included seemingly random objects (eg pineapple) which convey a message about the subject. Only this time the object is the painting of the Mona Lisa. The message? I think it's I'm young, rich and in Paris.

Yes!!! The Sistine Chapel Screamer is back!
We missed you!

I hate the photo taking in art galleries, wish it was still banned. Really gets in the way of looking at the works.

Shamelessly place marking to see if the OP comes back!

It wouldn't have bothered me but you could have said no. I clearly don't have the same appreciation of art you do though. I get through galleries fairly quickly. "Nice picture. Next."

I’m obviously missing something, I just don’t get the screaming comment

It's really an intrusion. And I thought photos were forbidden in most fine art venue anyway; doesn't the flash damage the canvases?

It's like someone asking you to take their picture in church (and I'm atheist! but really, have a sense of decorum, people.)

What a load of pretentious old wank.

I’m a 20 second “observe and move on” sort of woman in an art gallery, however I’d think someone asking me to take a photo of them in that sort of setting was a bit of a twat, to be honest.