White House Tour Photos
Photos and selfies are totally fine during White House tours. Reuters

If you're in need of a new selfie, you’re in luck. If you're going on a White House Tour, make sure you select the right filters and get ready for a patriotic photo op.

The Department of the Interior ended a ban today on photography during White House tours, making it the first time in 40 years that tourist photography has been allowed inside the White House. First Lady Michelle Obama announced the end of the restriction and celebrated by tearing up the prohibitive signage.

It wasn't a concern for safety but rather for artwork that lead to the initial ban. Now that photographs can be taken with less light -- and therefore would not damage the pigments in the artwork -- the ban has outlived its usefulness.

Public places are often in a battle with visitors over photographs and social media usage. Recently the Musée d'Orsay in Paris had to lift a ban on photography after the French culture minister ignored the rule. Both the National Gallery in Britain and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum lifted photography restrictions over the past year.

Still, while you can now snap a selfie and use social media in these hallowed precincts, some things are still prohibited from inside the tour. Flash photography, video cameras, camcorders and many accessories are still not allowed.

And, thankfully, so are selfie sticks.

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