Camera at the ready

More and more places, especially tourist sites, are banning the use of cameras because they spoil other people’s experience.
 
Why do people need to take photos every five minutes anyway? Why can’t they just appreciate their surroundings, without the need to turn everything into a photo?
 
I don’t think my life would be enhanced by having twenty photos of the Taj Mahal or twenty photos of a tour bus. And I get annoyed by having to find my way past someone who’s taking endless photos and obstructing my view.
 
As for selfies, I have a few dozen photos of myself and that’s it. I don’t need photos of everywhere I’ve been in the last 79 years or countless photos of me and my various relatives.
 
Social media is very much to blame, with people highlighting the merits of particular places and prompting a sudden flood of tourists, most of them with cameras at the ready.
 
Also, camera flashes can harm paintings and frescoes. There’s a total ban on photography or video recording in (for example) the Sistine Chapel to protect the famous frescos from damage.

I remember my father only took photos on holiday, and then very sparingly. He would be horrified by today’s promiscuous use of cameras.