You Can Now Take Photos While Touring The White House
On Wednesday, the White House lifted its over 40-year ban that prohibited tourists from taking photos inside the building. There are still many limitations, but visitors will now be able to take photos from their smartphones or small cameras while touring the White House.
“Effective today, guests are now welcome to take photos throughout the White House tour route and keep those memories for a lifetime. Visitors are also encouraged to share their experience using the hashtag #WhiteHouseTour.”
The announcement of the end to the ban was made by First Lady Michelle Obama via her Instagram account. You can watch her short announcement at the bottom of this article.
Still banned are cameras with lenses longer than three inches, video cameras, and action cameras, such as GoPro, and several other types of camera equipment. Detachable camera lenses are prohibited, along with tripods and camera sticks. Oddly, tablets like the popular iPad (which are essentially just larger smartphones) are still banned from tours.
In the press release posted on the White House’s website, they did set some rules, saying that guest photography may not interfere with other guests’ experience. With that same rule, flash photography and live streaming are not allowed while touring the White House.
The Washington Post noted that the ban was created in an effort to speed up the tours.
“The ban on no photos during White House tours was put in place after long lines started forming because visitors were stopping often to take pictures, according to the White House Historical Association.”
It appears as though the White House is no longer concerned with long lines. Since the ban ended, Instagram has been filled with photos from inside the White House. The new photos give us a closeup of the rooms that you could previously only get by going on the tour in person.
https://instagram.com/p/4mq4p8DUjo/
Below is the First Lady’s message that she used to announce the change.
https://instagram.com/p/4l6aKJvZHj/
[Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images]
