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Comment by staccatomeasure | Hacker News Reader

> Did you really take the decision - faced with an absolutely awe inspiring monument at sunrise - that the best use of your time and resources was to take a judgmental photo of the people around you? Get over yourself.

When I saw the Mona Lisa/Sistene Chapel it was surrounded by a stream of ~50 people with flashbulbs constantly firing and talking loudly. That sort of distortion of an environment can be difficult to ignore. It sounds like the author had a similar experience, and if that happens to you, you might find that the thing that grabs your attention most is how everyone's constant photography can degrade an experience.

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The word "touristy" has been around a long time, long before Instagram came around. Singling out Instagram is just another way to make the age-old complaints of tourism slightly less stale.

Trying to paint a critique of Instagram's effects on tourism as a lame re-hash of an old idea seems a bit off.

Sure, it might be the same complaint, but if the severity is 100x worse it holds more weight. And if Instagram is the main vehicle for this behavior, then it is a fair target of criticism.

For another example of the effects of smartphone-enabled-social-media, check out some youtube crowd shots from concerts before 2000 and ones from today. Obvious is emergence of masses of people looking through phones and holding up phones; a bit less obvious and a bit more worrisome is that folks seem generally less excited to be there.

> When I saw the Mona Lisa/Sistene Chapel it was surrounded by a stream of ~50 people with flashbulbs constantly firing and talking loudly

You write "Mona Lisa/Sistene Chapel" as if these were connected to each other, but they're not. They are in two different countries. And photography is not allowed in the Sistine Chapel, so it's very unlikely that you are recalling this incident correctly.

The connection is that they are both tourist attractions that were negatively impacted by photography during my visits.

Regarding the Sistine Chapel - you're right, photography is not allowed and I overrepresented the flashes when grouping it in with the Mona Lisa. But during my 5 minute visit I saw 3 different flashes and heard 3 different exclamations from Vatican staff "No pictures!", which was plenty disruptive.

The Louvre also forbids taking pictures with a flash and enforces that policy strictly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCTH8ht2RuA

Not very strictly, in my experience.

I've been lucky enough to visit both the Sistine Chapel and the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa. I've been to the Sistine Chapel twice (2003 and 2011) and both times it was very crowded and remarkably quiet. Even while waiting on line to get in it was very quiet. I was surprised.

The crowd in front of the Mona Lisa was a bit louder but still very quiet. Many people were taking photos but there were signs up, and people around to remind you, that flash photography was prohibited.

Neither experience was as tranquil as I would have liked to take in such awesome works of art but it didn't bother me much because it honestly felt like everyone there was doing their best to not disturb everyone else's experience. I guess that's just the nature of visiting two of the most famous works of art on the planet.

When I was in the Sistine Chapel in 2007, the same rule was in effect. Once you got inside though, EVERY single person was taking photos.

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