한국인들은 과도하게 미술관에서 사진을 찍는 경향이 있습니다. 어떤 때는 사진을 찍을 목적으로 미술관에 온 것은 아닐까 하는 생각이 들 정도입니다. 최근 고흐미술관에서 사진찍는 것을 다시 금지하면서 미술관에서의 사진찍기에 대한 논쟁이 가열되고 있습니다. 제 개인적으로는 금지가 옳다고 봅니다. 사진을 찍기위해 좋은 자리를 차지하려고 다른 사람들의 볼 권리를 침해하는 것이 첫째 이유이고 두번째는 작가의 저작권 보호 세번째는 작품의 보호 때문입니다.  

그리고 더욱 중요한 것은 그림은 마음과 머리 속에 담아가는 것이지 사진으로 담아갔다고 해서 어떤 정서적, 예술적 감흥을 증가시키지는 않습니다. 경우에 따라서는 자신의 문화적 교양수준을 드러내기 위한 인증 샷인 경우가 더 많다고 생각되기 때문입니다. 미술관에서 사진을 찍는 것은 과정은 무시하고 결과만 중시하는 우리네 문화와도 관계가 깊다고 생각합니다. 하지만 그림을 보고 유물을 감상하는 것은 과정이 중요한 것입니다. 사진찍고 지나가는 식의 감상은 이제는 사라져야 합니다. 하긴 사진찍는 것을 금지하니까 관람객이 줄더랍니다. 참으로 저렴한(?) 한국사회의 단면입니다. 

기사 밑에 댓글이 더 재미있기도 합니다만. 

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To ban or not to ban photography

As the Van Gogh Museum reintroduces prohibition, it’s no wonder visitors with cameras are confused

By Martin Bailey. Museums, Issue 255, March 2014

Published online: 12 March 2014

Smart phone, shame about the museum experience?

The world’s most popular museums have widely differing attitudes towards visitors taking photographs. The current situation is confusing for visitors because of different policies taken by museums, even those in the same city. Although most now permit photography for personal use in their permanent collections, it can lead to “camera-rage”: tension between those looking at and photographing art.

Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum reintroduced its ban on personal photography in January because of the friction it caused. Last May, for the first time, it allowed personal photography, since growing numbers of visitors wanted and expected to be able to take photos. However, the museum attracts 1.4 million visitors a year (88% tourists) and its relatively confined space means that it is always crowded. 

Permitting photography led to constant tension between those who wanted a clear view for their camera and those who wished to look at the paintings. Many also insisted on photographing their companion or themselves in front of a picture. This led to numerous complaints from other visitors. 

A few works hung with the museum’s permanent collection are loans, most of which should not be photographed. When the National Gallery in London lent Sunflowers, 1888, last year, there was a “no photography” symbol on the label. But visitors either failed to see the symbol or chose to ignore it, and gallery staff could do a limited amount to prevent them.

Now the Van Gogh Museum only allows pictures to be taken in areas where there is no art, such as the central atrium. 

The rise of digital cameras

Until a decade or so ago, photography was generally prohibited in museums because cameras usually required the use of flash indoors. The development of digital cameras (including those in smartphones) that can produce a good image in low light has created the current confusion. Museums want visitors to enjoy the collections and to share images with friends, but it can be disruptive when large numbers of people are snapping away with their mobile phones and tablets around popular works. 

We surveyed the world’s top ten museums, in terms of visitor numbers (see box). Only three of the ten museums ban photography. The seven that permit personal photography do not allow the use of flash or tripods. Photography is banned for light-sensitive works on paper and in temporary exhibitions (where many items are on loan). 

Whatever the policy, enforcing restrictions puts a strain on gallery staff, and diverts them from their key role, protecting the collection. In London, for example, many visitors find it difficult to understand why they cannot use cameras in the National Gallery, but can in Tate Modern and Tate Britain. And when in the Tate’s permanent collection, many do not observe the small print on works on loan saying that they should not be photographed.

Photography in galleries also raises copyright issues. The Tate for example, does not reproduce many of its own 20th- and 21st-century works in the collection section of its website because of “copyright restrictions”. Yet visitors regularly photograph these same paintings and upload them onto social media sites.

The ubiquitous digital camera raises the key question of how we look at art. A recent study at Fairfield University, Connecticut, confirms what some might expect. Linda Henkel, a psychologist, produced data that shows that visitors who took photographs remembered fewer works and fewer details in them than those who only looked at them.

Henkel explains: “When you click on that button, you’re sending a signal to your brain saying, ‘I’ve just outsourced this, the camera is going to remember this for me’. The photos are trophies. You want to show people where you were, rather than saying, ‘This is important, I want to remember this.’” 

Where you can and can’t snap the art

London: The Tate has allowed photography since 2009. A gallery spokeswoman says this “opens up possibilities of dialogue and engagement”. While the British Museum has allowed photography for decades, the National Gallery bans it. Photography “could spoil the visitor’s enjoyment of the art”, says a National Gallery spokeswoman. 

Paris: Photography is allowed at the Centre Pompidou and the Louvre. In the Louvre’s gallery with the Mona Lisa, 1503-06, the crowds surge around the barrier, making it impossible to really look at Leonardo’s masterpiece. In less popular rooms photography creates little difficulty. Photography used to be allowed at the Musée d’Orsay but the policy was reversed in 2011. An Orsay spokeswoman says that the opening of the refurbished Impressionist galleries increased attendance and the growing number of people with smartphones meant the situation had become “very uncomfortable”.

United States: New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has allowed photography since around 2000, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, has permitted photography for many years.

Vatican: Photography is allowed in the Vatican Museums, except in the Sistine Chapel (Michelangelo’s ceiling is the museum’s main attraction, and the room is constantly thronged). 

Taipei: The National Palace Museum bans photography “to preserve and protect” its ancient artefacts.

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13 Mar 14 15:12 CET

JOHN BENCE, NEW YORK

While the Vatican prohibits taking photographs in the Sistine Chapel, guards don't enforce the rule. When I was there two years ago, the room was filled with flashes.

13 Mar 14 15:14 CET

KAREN, ANAHEIM

It will be news to all the tourists taking pictures with their iPads in the Sistine Chapel that photos are forbidden.

13 Mar 14 15:15 CET

CAROL, STRICKLAND

If we want to encourage cultural tourism, sharing photos of great art works helps encourage others to visit & see the art first-hand. I just toured the Vatican collection and the crowds were seriously studying the art as well as snapping souvenir shots. It's not necessarily a dichotomy.

13 Mar 14 15:16 CET

ROBERTO, YOKOSUKA, JAPAN

Exit through the gift shop ... and buy postcards.

13 Mar 14 16:50 CET

CHUCK, MIAMI

I have found that sometimes the process of photographing an object makes me look at it more carefully and I come away with a deeper appreciation. I don't expect other viewers to get out of my way and I wait patiently. For those who feel that some how they have more priority because they want to study or appreciate than those who simply want to look briefly or photograph, you don't. You are but one click on the turnstile like any one else. Were the museums dependent only on such visitors, most could not stay open.

12 Mar 14 19:35 CET

MIKE GAYLER, LEICESTER, UK

There is a prevalent attitude of 'if there's no photo, it never happened / I never saw it' which needs to be addressed in society. These rules are confusing for visitors - do we need a concensus? For example: 'no phototography on Saturdays & Sundays' in any museum anywhere, and at the museums discretion any other days? Snappers are a real distraction if one wants to study, or appreciate, famous artworks.

12 Mar 14 17:7 CET

DAVID BROOKS, TORONTO

Bravo, Van Gogh Museum! When I visited in September the cameras were a huge distraction. The VGM is always jam-packed, but the cameras made a challenging visit even more so. Also, shouldn't people just appreciate the art, rather than snapping selfies and publishing them online three seconds later? Well done, VGM.