Denver Art Museum shuttering much of its photo ban

Visitors to the Denver Art Museum’s show of Impressionist still-life paintings may notice something else new in the galleries: People taking pictures with their phones.

DAM is relaxing a longheld policy of prohibiting photography throughout its buildings.

“The museum understands people are connected to their smartphones and want to take pictures when they come into the museum,” according to spokeswoman Shadia Lemus. “It’s how today’s modern society works, and we’re working toward embracing this culture.”

The change makes for a more relaxed atmosphere at the museum, and it’s a gift of sorts for security staffers, who have spent much of their time over the past decade admonishing amateur photographers.

It also works as a marketing strategy. DAM knows people will share their images through social media, sending out miniadvertisements for its offerings. The museum is developing filters for the phone app Snapchat that will allow users to identify their geographic location on its grounds.

There are some rules. Photography is allowed only for personal, noncommercial purposes. No flashes are permitted, ever. Some objects cannot be photographed due to restrictions placed on them by lenders. For “In Bloom,” the current show, eight of the more than 50 paintings are off-limits.

Restricted works carry a little symbol on their label featuring a camera under a circle-backslash, the international symbol for no photos allowed. Ray Mark Rinaldi: 303-9541540, rrinaldi@denverpost.com or twitter.com/rayrinaldi