http://tinyurl.com/59edsy

3. That I would be blogging my forcible eviction from the MOMA.

Talk about power-trippy.

If I were in a museum taking pictures and was told to stop by a docent or a guard or any employee I’d stop. Doesn’t matter what the stated rules are or should be.

By the way, not all museums have policies like this: The Norton Simon allows DSLRs, just no flash and no packs. But, you can have a 1Ds and a 70-200 f/2.8 L IS around your neck, no problem (your neck will suffer but it’s all for art, right).

The Getty Center also allows photography, just no flash or tripods.

Here is NY MOMA’s policy on photography:

Still photography for personal use is permitted in collection galleries only. No flash or tripods allowed. Videotaping is permitted in the lobby only. No photographs or videotapes may be reproduced, distributed, or sold without permission from the Museum.

The question I would have for MOMA would be, could I blog an image I took there without asking them? And, Hawk’s image was not in a collection gallery so if SF MOMA had that policy about “where” they’d have reason to stop him.

SF Moma is a bit more lenient:

Photography is allowed for personal, noncommercial use, except where noted. Flash photography and videography are not allowed in the galleries. Tripods are not allowed.

One might argue that Hawk’s blog generates ad revenue but he’s not selling the images… Still, if asked to stop, stop. Simple.

But there’s a difference between the exterior of a corporate office building and the museum. The staff at the museum have an incredible challenge: protect and preserve art that’s worth hundreds of millions of dollars, while at the same time allowing the public to mingle with it. They are currently dealing with a blockbuster exhibit, Frida Kahlo, meaning a lot of the art is not even theirs.

Whether it’s unattended children, people standing too close to paintings, people wandering aimlessly on cell phones, people flashing fragile art or men with their DSLRS and accoutrements standing in the stairwell blocking the path of traffic, sometimes the staff’s decision to tell a visitor what to do is going to seem stupid and unnecessary. But if you are reasonable and actually care about the art, you realize that they are probably trying to do their jobs the best they can.

“We need to give the real world a chance to live their lives without forcing them to go virtual.”

While we all spend far too much time in this life online, I think we forget that for the majority, it’s pretty much the same as Neverland:

“…second to the right, and straight on till morning…”

Could a troll be someone who goes around inciting situations to make points and blog about it?

It could be he’s glad of a fight and will enter into and extend one beyond the point that a typical person would, but if you didn’t start the fight, directly or indirectly, you’re not a troll. You may be a jerk, you may be immature, you may be a valiant defender of the rights of all. That part’s infinitely variable. But frankly, the soda-counter sitters of the civil rights movement were a lot closer to “trolls” than this guy was.

M