The National Archives announced that filming, photographing, and videotaping by the public will be prohibited in all exhibition areas in the National Archives Building, beginning February 25, 2010. There is concern that the Charters of Freedom (the Declaration, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights) and other original documents on display were at risk from exposure to flash photography.
For the last 30 years, flash photography has been prohibited. Despite prominent signage and security guards reminding the public of this policy, the documents were subjected to approximately 50,000 flashes each year.
Visitors who want an image of the documents on display in the National Archives Experience may download them at no cost from www.archives.gov , visit the Resource Room adjacent to the Exhibition Hall for a free color copy, or visit the Archives Shop. Find more information on the National Archives.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sygyzy/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
I think this is a bummer. It’s not fair that a few people ruin it for everyone. It’s understandable that you can’t use flash photography, but it’s not fair that now no one can capture the moment when they saw it. Especially being a first time visitor to DC soon, and am disappointed to find out I can’t take pictures of the most important and influential documents of our history…it’s just a bummer.