The First Photographer - Pete Souza!!!
From Pete’s bio: “Pete Souza is the Chief Official White House Photographer for President Obama; he is also the Director of the White House photo office.”
What a job. Sheesh. Souza also served as an official White House photographer for President Reagan from ‘83 to ‘89. I often think about what it would be like to be in any President’s shoes. It’s just a fascinating thing to think about. And since so few people will ever truly know first-hand, I have to imagine the next best person to describe it would be whoever the official White House photographer is at the time. I love looking at Pete’s portfolio - he gets a chance to capture totally candid moments that the world would never see if he weren’t around to snap them. It puts an incredibly human feeling to a job that feels so far beyond the reaches of what most of us will ever get to see or experience. Aside from his work with Obama thus far, Pete is an accomplished photographer with other subjects, one of my favorites being the ‘Wrigley Field’ set on his site. Chicago being my hometown and having grown up going to Cubs games myself, I know first hand the ‘magic’ that Wrigley Field possesses and Pete really captures it well. (Except I don’t see a part 2, with photos of disappointed fans at the end of every season, but that’s another story…) Anyways, check out Pete’s work, again most notably the ‘Rise of Barack Obama’ section, the ‘President Reagan’s Funeral’ section, and ‘Plebe Summer’.