The Washington Post noted this morning that the National Archives will soon ban photography by visitors who have come to see the Declaration of Independence and other founding documents in their main exhibition hall. Currently, photography -- with no flash -- is permitted in the hall. After the change, professional photographers and media can still arrange with the Archives to take pictures; tourists will be allowed to bring their cameras (and cell phones, video cameras, etc) into the hall but will be warned by the guards if they use them, and escorted out of the building if they ignore the warning. more ›

We've covered D.C. photographer rights issues before on DCist, and we've covered local photographer Erin McCann's continued push to prevent photographer harassment in the D.C. area. She's mobilized people using the DC Photo Rights group, testified in front of Congress, and now she's managed to have the ACLU get the Department of Transportation to answer the question of whether they have a policy prohibiting photography of their buildings, saying in part: more ›

In the ongoing saga of Union Station's confusion over their own photography rules, we have an update for you: nothing has happened. Last month, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Managment of the U.S. House of Representatives, held a hearing regarding those rules, listening to both reps from Union Station and photographer Erin McCann. During the hearing, Del. Norton soundly admonished Union Station managers handling of the situation as "pathetic." more ›