Durham Cathedral

I have a rant about this one.

It's a thing of beauty; lovely proportions, wonderful stonework, everything you'd expect visually from a major cathedral. But they won't let you take any photos inside... not just no flash, no photos.
I find this unacceptable.
(I also find it unacceptable that when I asked, I was told - and I asked three times because it seemed odd - that it was ok to take photos in the side aisles but not the nave; only then to be told by someone else to desist. I am trying quite hard not to begrudge the donation I gave in the expectation of being able get a few good shots because that would be almost as mean-spirited as not allowing photos; but I do feel cheated. However, that's a side issue.)

Getting back to the main issue, I understand that they have a balance to keep, and that people go there to worship, and that it's a place of pilgrimage. I also understand that it is entirely reasonable therefore to expect visitors to conduct themselves respectfully.
However, I'd bet a year's salary that the vast majority of people who visit the cathedral and contribute to its upkeep are not pilgrims or other devout, but tourists who wander in, usually in groups, chatter in more or less muted tones while they stroll round once, leave again after about 10 minutes, and then claim to have seen Durham Cathedral. How is that respectful?

Whereas what I do, is visit beautiful places and try to create images that do them justice - sometimes I succeed at least partially and sometimes I do not, but that is the intention. I take a long time to do this, in most instances. I'll bet I see more than the chatterers. I'll also bet I appreciate the place more. And moreover, I never use flash in churches, and take care not to crowd, or get in the way of, or be intrusive towards those who are there to worship. And I think that is true of anyone who is interested in photography.

So where is the balance in forbidding photography? They're either going to let in tourists, or they're going to keep it as a church. Having decided to let in tourists, the assumption that anyone with a camera is going to be a disrespectful yob who must be prevented from upsetting the devout, is downright insulting.

According to the volunteer who asked me to desist - and I have no issues with her; we had a civilized conversation - it is the thing they get most stick about, but despite repeated representations, the dean and chapter are adamant. No photography.

Well, this photographer hereby awards the dean and chapter of Durham Cathedral the Slap of the Day (thank you Janet) and thinks they need to reassess what is and is not disrespectful. Granted, some photographers are. But it's not the camera that makes them so.