--- title: White House Photos: See the First Tourist Instagrams description: A 40-year ban on tourist photography inside the White House has been lifted, Michelle Obama announced on Instagram canonical: https://time.com/3943233/white-house-photo-ban-instagram/ author: TIME Photo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-01T16:24:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:02:41.625Z article:section: Politics og:title: See the First Tourist Instagrams Taken at the White House og:description: A 40-year ban on tourist photography inside the White House has been lifted, Michelle Obama announced og:url: https://time.com/3943233/white-house-photo-ban-instagram/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20997c67a58faa2c/698859483c163956ff458aad/11352368_513039655511308_587843359_n.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 11352368_513039655511308_587843359_n.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See the First Tourist Instagrams Taken at the White House twitter:description: A 40-year ban on tourist photography inside the White House has been lifted, Michelle Obama announced twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20997c67a58faa2c/698859483c163956ff458aad/11352368_513039655511308_587843359_n.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See the First Tourist Instagrams Taken at the White House by [TIME Photo](https://time.com/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Jul 1, 2015 4:24 PM UTC  📷 #whitehousetour 📷 #whitehousetourleonor mamanna (@leonorjr) via Instagram by [TIME Photo](https://time.com/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Jul 1, 2015 4:24 PM UTC  Some special guests joined us for today's first #whitehousetour with photos allowed! Office of Protocol (@us\_protocol) via Instagram  Great news! For the first time in 50 years, photography is now allowed in the @whitehouse! I feel truly honored to have received an invite to the @whitehouse to on behalf of #DameTraveler. This is truly our most exciting and beautiful venture yet. A huge thank you to @jennabrayton for making this possible. Happy Snapping! 📷 #WhiteHouseTour #dametraveler (@dametraveler) via Instagram  📷 #whitehousetour leonor mamanna (@leonorjr) via Instagram  This morning's #whitehousetour was full of cameras after the 40-year photo ban was lifted this morning! Learn more about signing up for a tour at whitehouse.gov. Office of Protocol (@us\_protocol) via Instagram  Guess the name of this room #whitehousetour Brian Kelly (@thepointsguy) via Instagram  🔥🔥🔥steamy #DC day from the @whitehouse #whitehousetour. Love that pics are now allowed Brian Kelly (@thepointsguy) via Instagram  Jessica | @bontraveler | #whitehousetour Jarrett Hendrix (@brilliantartistry) via Instagram  Here's a peak into the East Room, where Protocol works with the @whitehouse on many events, including recently the Japan State Dinner. #whitehousetour Office of Protocol (@us\_protocol) via Instagram  The State Dining Room where the parties happen! Directly below where the #POTUS sleeps #whitehousetour #chic #firstfamily Brian Kelly (@thepointsguy) via Instagram  #WhiteHouseTour @whitehouse Kelly Sharon (@kellylovestype) via Instagram ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3943233/white-house-photo-ban-instagram/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3943233/white-house-photo-ban-instagram/"},"headline":"See the First Tourist Instagrams Taken at the White House","datePublished":"2015-07-01T16:24:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:02:41.625Z","description":"“Visitors are now able to take photos and keep those memories for a lifetime!” Michelle Obama announced on Instagram Wednesday, lifting a 40-year ban on tourist photography inside the White House","url":"https://time.com/3943233/white-house-photo-ban-instagram/","keywords":["White House","Barack Obama","Dogs","Michelle Obama","Washington","photography","Instagram"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20997c67a58faa2c/698859483c163956ff458aad/11352368_513039655511308_587843359_n.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Photo","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-photo/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20997c67a58faa2c/698859483c163956ff458aad/11352368_513039655511308_587843359_n.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"11352368_513039655511308_587843359_n.jpg","caption":"📷 #whitehousetour","creditText":"leonor mamanna (@leonorjr) via Instagram","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3943233/white-house-photo-ban-instagram/","name":"See the First Tourist Instagrams Taken at the White House"}}]}] ```