Having the time of our life – Entertaining ourselves at the British Museum
I wandered into the British Museum today. That makes it sound like I hadn’t intended to go there. I had, but I hadn’t intended to stay. I went to look at a photographic exhibition (part of the London Photography Festival) and was planning to go straight on to another exhibition but I didn’t make it out of the British Museum until it was too late to go on elsewhere.
As the British Museum is one of the few London museums that lets you take photographs, I was never going to get out without clicking the shutter a few times. I didn’t even get in before I had taken photos of children blowing various horns at what I think was a reenactment of the Olympics in Ancient Greece – or it could have been Rome, it was very difficult to tell from the costumes.
One thing stood out: even given a “boring museum” children will find amusing ways to entertain themselves. Adults on the other hand are a little more predictable. When one of the ancient Greeks/Romans wandered into the Great Court, he was swamped by tourists who wanted their photos taken with him! There was a famous statue of the discus thrower behind him but why take a photo of a Roman replica of a Greek statue when you can take a picture of an English bloke dressed up as a Greek/Roman?
A real live Roman/Greek!
I just love the third image, the one of the girl waving her jacket around. Such a cute shot.
Thanks Bill. I think that’s my favourite too. She was obviously a bit bored by the museum so decided to make her own entertainment!
I can still remember being ‘dragged kicking and screaming’ around the British Museum wheni was 7 years old (in 1972). Unlike my father, I had no interest in the exhibition of Tutankhamun and all the Egyptian treasures. It was one of the greatest exhibitions to ever come to London; but I was the wrong age for such things. LOL