Photos by Pete Souza/The White House
“I’m documenting for history. I have a window to Obama’s world that nobody else does. I’m trying to make the most of it, making pictures for the archives that hopefully people in 50 years will be able to go back to and study and get a good sense of what this president was like.” —PETE SOUZA
AMERICAN TH E
P HOTO GRA PH ER At the pinnacle of his career, Pete Souza captures history quietly in the background BY WILL POLLOCK
I
n November 2004, Pete Souza began developing a story pitch that would, in time, return him to one of the most coveted roles in all of photojournalism. Souza—who served as official White House photographer during Ronald Reagan’s second term—was approached by Jeff Zeleny, then a reporter with the Chicago Tribune’s Washington, D.C., bureau, to do a multi-part profile
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on a newly elected senator named Barack Obama. “There was a lot of attention given to him, and as the hometown newspaper, we thought it would be a good use of our time,” Souza remembers. “We approached [communications director] Robert Gibbs and pitched the story, which we were going to do regardless. We wanted special access, especially for me. I wanted to be able to go behind the scenes with him as much as possible.” With some negotiations and wrangling, they got the access they needed and traveled with Obama around Illinois and to Georgia; later came international trips to Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan, as well as South Africa, Kenya, and Chad. “Just in the course of that travel I got to know him a little bit as a person,” Souza says. 76 • www.ppmag.com
TRADITION OF DOCUMENTING HISTORY Souza would end up returning to the venerated position of official White House photographer. “Before Kennedy, there would be photographers from the Department of the Interior assigned to photograph ceremonial events at the White House,” Souza says, adding that Yoichi Okamoto was eventually awarded the first permanent gig. “With Kennedy, there were just two military guys that were assigned to the White House. After the assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson hired Okamoto to document his presidency. LBJ was really the first president to officially appoint a photographer to document his history, and Okamoto set the bar so high that everybody’s been trying to reach his level since then. If you look at Okamoto’s photographs, that’s most certainly the bar that I try to meet. “I’m documenting for history,” he adds. “I have a window to Obama’s world that nobody else does. I’m trying to make the most of it, making pictures for the archives that hopefully people in 50 years will be able to go back to and study and get a good sense of what this president was like.”
WORKING THROUGH CONTROVERSY Not everyone views the president and his policies in a positive light—and that includes a number of news photographers on the White House beat who’ve accused the administration of shutting them out of important presidential events. Described by The New York Times as a “mutiny” in response to a “Sovietstyle news service,” the long-simmering dispute came to its denouement when the White House Correspondents’ Association and 37 news organizations sent a protest letter to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, which read in part: “Journalists are routinely being denied April 2014 • Professional Photographer • 77
the right to photograph or videotape the president while he is performing his official duties. As surely as if they were placing a hand over a journalist’s camera lens, officials in this administration are blocking the public from having an independent view of important functions of the Executive Branch of government.” Some people attribute the restricted access to an insular management style used by the president and his closest advisers; others point to the rise of social media sites like Flickr, Twitter, and Facebook as a more convenient way for the White House to disseminate information. The protest letter cites First Amendment infringements, adding that the White House’s prac-
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CAPTURING A TERRORIST … AND A MOMENT Now iconic and instantly recognizable, Pete Souza’s bin Laden raid photograph has been picked apart—oftentimes incorrectly. Much has been made of Hillary Clinton having her hand to her face, but as Souza remembers it, other cabinet members had similar reactions. “Going back over the hundred pictures, if you look at the different people in the room, probably five or six people had their hand up to their face like that,” he says. Souza recalls taking about 1,000 pictures that day, and about 100 in that
attributes the difference to both familiarity and age. “My access to President Obama is much better than my access to President Reagan,” he says, “mostly due to the fact
specific room, which was then distilled down to that one, now-infamous captured moment of history. “It’s difficult to add any context to the image other than 40 minutes of anxiety,” he says. “I knew it was an important photograph, but I didn’t have any idea that it would take on iconic status as I was shooting it.”
that I knew President Obama before he
For more on this and other memorable Souza images, visit ppmag.com for a multimedia slideshow, including commentary from the photographer himself.
older. I was also in my 20s when I started
became president and had already established trust. With Reagan, I gained better access during the second term. “Reagan was in his 70s, and Obama was in his 40s when he started,” he adds. “It makes a difference having a young family compared to someone who was much with Reagan; now I’m in my 50s and have had many more life experiences both in photography and in general. I think I’m a smarter photographer as a result.” In Souza’s daily work, part of being a smart photographer means maintaining a low profile in high-pressure situations. “I definitely try to use a small footprint in that I don’t use flash, I don’t do rapid motor drive, and I keep the camera on silent mode,” he says. “I’m not causing a ruckus. That’s the way I operate. Over the course of time, the president knows I’m going to be there, so it’s not as big a deal. I try to carry that forward with visiting heads of state, for instance, so that the visitor does not feel my presence.” By early 2017, Souza’s White House presence will be at an end, and the photographer remains circumspect about what his
tice stifles newsgathering. “You are, in effect,
in-depth account of the bin Laden raid photo,
professional life will look like afterward. For
replacing independent photojournalism
see the sidebar above and our multimedia
now, though, he remains focused on captur-
with visual press releases,” the letter stated.
package on ppmag.com.) That rapport
ing as much as he can. “I was teaching for
Souza responded in a New York Times
extended to Souza’s wedding ceremony to Patti
about a year and a half at Ohio University
article: “It’s legitimate for them to push for
Lease, which was held last October in the
when I got the call, so it’s possible that I’ll
more access, and in some cases I think their
White House Rose Garden, an opportunity
do that. It’s something that I can start think-
arguments are valid, and in some instances
rarely afforded a private citizen and report-
ing about seriously in three years. For now,
I think their arguments aren’t valid.”
edly suggested by the president himself.
it’s not even part of the conversation.” ■
matter where you fall on the political spec-
DIFFERENT BONDS
trum—it’s clear Souza has formed a trust
Obama and Souza share a close connection,
Pete Souza’s Flickr stream is at flickr.com/whitehouse.
and rapport with President Obama that’s
by all accounts, which differs from Souza’s
resulted in some remarkable images. (For an
experience with President Reagan. Souza
Despite those controversies—and no
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Will Pollock is a writer and photographer in Atlanta.