I am sorry that my very first post on this site is a little critical, but I think we as a photography community should be trying to open doors and opportunities for photographers, not closing doors. In my opinion it’s the vastly increased number of visitors to the museums, which have degraded the museum experience, not photographers. If the Louvre banned all photography there would still be the same extremely large number of visitors to see the Mona Lisa.. A photography ban would not decrease the crowds.
When I visited the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay this past May, I found the experience the same, both venues were way too crowded. There were 200 + people in one room trying to view the Mona Lisa, a relatively small painting. 200 people with or without cameras make no difference. It’s too crowded either way.
I agree with Mark D that the act of people taking photos of themselves or their friends in front of works of art is very distracting. Tour guides giving lectures in front of works of art are also very distracting. Both practices should be forbidden by museums along with flash photography.
One solution (suggestion) would be a “responsible photographer” program at museums. Visitors to museums who want to take photos would need to wait in an additional line once inside the museum, pay an additional fee (2-5 Euros?), have their cameras checked by a museum employee who can be certain that the photographer knows how to disable the flash and any distracting lights which might assist auto focus, and then sign a document agreeing to not use flash, or take photos of themselves, friends, or family. They would then be issued a photographer’s Badge or perhaps a brightly colored vest, allowing them to take non-flash photography for the day. Then a much smaller number of visitors would be using their cameras, but photographers like us could continue to photograph “responsibly” in museums. The extra line, the extra money, the inability to turn off the camera’s flash would all discourage most visitors from using their cameras. If the program works, then as a photography community we could push to open up more museums to a “responsible photography” program. Opening more doors to photography would be a good goal for us to achieve.
A couple more things: children on a school field trip will frequently be a distraction in a museum with or without cameras; and the bullet proof, fire proof, bomb proof glass in front of the Mona Lisa is not coming down if photography is banned in the Louvre.