How many likes for Da Vinci? Why it's fine to take pictures in an art gallery

Photographs used to be banned in exhibitions - now they're encouraged. So why do some people get so snobby about them?

While I was studying art history, my tutor once advised the class that when you want to take photos in a gallery, it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Later, when I started working in various galleries, I always felt bad when someone asked whether they could take photographs because I had to tell them no.

Thankfully, things have loosened up - at least in UK museums and galleries - and personal photography is generally allowed and even encouraged. But have things swung too far in the other direction? This has been a heated topic of debate on social media this past week. Smartphones have made photography accessible to almost everybody, while social media provides somewhere for all those photos to go. As such, the phone has become a significant presence in the gallery, to the annoyance of some.