As a
photojournalist and documentary photographer I am instinctively
opposed to any restrictions placed on my ability to make pictures
wherever I choose. So I should be delighted that the National Gallery
has lifted its ban on the use of cameras and smartphones – but I'm
not entirely.
Nor are the gallery
attendants, who have been landed with a Sisyphean task. The change of
policy, which came into force this month, was prompted by
the problem of distinguishing between visitors legitimately using
their phones to research paintings via the gallery's free wifi network, and
deviants taking photos of its precious artworks. However, using a
flash is still forbidden, and as most users of smartphones and
compact cameras leave them set on automatic, flashes are firing off
left, right and centre. The attendants are continually forced to
intervene.
Although the gallery
houses thousands of wonderful paintings by world-famous artists, one single
work, Van Gogh's Sunflowers (above),
attracts the overwhelming majority of snappers. It is an
extraordinary spectacle. Many never actually see the painting itself,
so intent are they on framing its image on their screen. Most
irritating of all are those whose must-have picture is a friend or family
member posing in front of the canvas. Clearly all this has more to do with Facebook than art appreciation.
Fortunately,
with Sunflowers
hanging in a room conveniently close to the front entrance and taking
most of the heat, the rest of the national collection remains
relatively unaffected. Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael,
Canaletto – even Seurat (above) and Monet – do not attract more than the
occasional smartphone or iPad.
So
maybe I needn't countermand my instinctive desire for access all
areas. However, I do recognise the trouble it is causing gallery
staff – still, by the way, woefully underpaid and fighting a
campaign for the London Living Wage (below). My solution would be to
take Van Gogh's over-popular work (or a reasonable copy) and nail it
to an outside wall, where the crowds could photograph it, themselves,
their friends and family, without bothering anyone, including those
who visit galleries to look at paintings. More pictures here.
London Living Wage protest outside the National Gallery, 2010
