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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

ARCHIVE / BEST OF 2012 BY PETE SOUZA & HIS TEAM OF WHITE HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHERS



Pete Souza in action, Nobel 2009, Oslo: Souza (with camera second from left), the chief White House photographer, looks toward U.S. president Barack Obama and other dignitaries on the day Obama received the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

FIRST CAMERA--The White House photo team has a front row view for all the events both big and small at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., and on the road with the President, the Vice President and the First Family. Each January, Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer and Director of the White House Photography Office, selects his favorite images from the past 12 months. Featuring exclusive perspectives of everything from Presidential trips and events to private moments between President Obama and his family, his staff and American citizens, this collection offers a unique view of 2012.


So, who is Pete Souza? www.petesouza.com/

He’s the Chief Official White House Photographer for President Pete Souza is the Chief Official White House Photographer for President Obama; he is also the Director of the White House photo office.  He was also top photographer for Ronald Reagan, during the Gipper’s administration.
White House Situation Room during Bin Laden raid

If Pete Souza never takes another photo, the image of President Obama with his advisors in the situation room following live the legendary Seal Team Six mission, is becoming a career hallmark.

Souza is on an extended leave of absence from Ohio University's School of Visual Communication where he is an assistant professor of photojournalism. He has worked as an Official White House Photographer for President Reagan, a freelancer for National Geographic, and as the national photographer for the Chicago Tribune based in their Washington bureau.
Souza's book, "The Rise of Barack Obama," was published in July 2008 and includes exclusive photographs of the Senator's rise to power. Souza extensively documented Obama's first year in the Senate and accompanied Obama to seven countries including Kenya, South Africa and Russia. The book was on the New York Times bestseller list for five weeks.
In addition to the national political scene, Souza has covered stories around the world. After 9/11, he was among the first journalists to cover the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan after crossing the Hindu Kush mountains by horseback in three feet of snow.
As a freelancer, Souza has photographed two articles on assignment for National Geographic Magazine and three photo essays for Life Magazine. His photographs have also been published in many other magazines and newspapers around the world including on the covers of Fortune, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report.
At a Reagan White House reception John Travolta dances
with Princess Diana

In 1992 Souza produced and published "Unguarded Moments: Behind-the-Scenes Photographs of President Reagan," a coffee-table book based on his 5 1/2 years in the White House.  A newer book, "Images of Greatness: An Intimate Look at the Presidency of Ronald Reagan," was published in June 2004 by Triumph Books.  Former Sen. Howard Baker Jr. said in his introduction to the book that Souza recorded "some of the most intimate, honest and humanizing scenes of the presidency I've ever seen." Souza was also the official photographer for the June 2004 funeral of President Reagan.

Souza published another documentary book entitled, "Plebe Summer at the U.S. Naval Academy".  The book chronicles one company of incoming midshipmen through the six-week indoctrination period of Plebe Summer.

Souza has won numerous photojournalism awards including several times in the prestigious Pictures of the Year annual competition, the NPPA's Best of Photojournalism, and the White House News Photographers Association's yearly contest.

Nancy Reagan is comforted by
Mikhail Gorbachev at
President Reagan's funeral
He has lectured many times on his photography including at the Smithsonian Museum of American History, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Harvard University, Boston University, Ohio University, the University of Kansas, Western Kentucky University and Kansas State University.  He has appeared on the ABC news magazine show 20-20, Nightline, Good Morning America, CNN Special Reports, Fox Friends and Family, and on National Public Radio.on his 5 1/2 years in the White House.  A newer book, "Images of Greatness: An Intimate Look at the Presidency of Ronald Reagan," was published in June 2004 by Triumph Books.  Former Sen. Howard Baker Jr. said in his introduction to the book that Souza recorded "some of the most intimate, honest and humanizing scenes of the presidency I've ever seen." Souza was also the official photographer for the June 2004 funeral of President Reagan.

Souza published another documentary book entitled, "Plebe Summer at the U.S. Naval Academy".  The book chronicles one company of incoming midshipmen through the six-week indoctrination period of Plebe Summer.

Souza has won numerous photojournalism awards including several times in the prestigious Pictures of the Year annual competition, the NPPA's Best of Photojournalism, and the White House News Photographers Association's yearly contest.

Pete Souza:  “Two days after the shootings at Newtown, the President traveled to Connecticut to meet with the victims’ families and give remarks at a prayer vigil.  The President spent hours greeting family members.  Difficult as that was for everyone, the one moment that helped soothe the pain was when he posed for a photo with the siblings and cousins of Emillie Parker, one of the 20 children who died that day in Newtown.  I see both sadness and hope in this photograph, and I know after a lot of tears that day, it meant so much to the President that everyone was able to smile for a moment in this family photo.  Thanks to the Parker family for allow us to take the picture.”

He has lectured many times on his photography including at the Smithsonian Museum of American History, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Harvard University, Boston University, Ohio University, the University of Kansas, Western Kentucky University and Kansas State University.  He has appeared on the ABC news magazine show 20-20, Nightline, Good Morning America, CNN Special Reports, Fox Friends and Family, and on National Public Radio. Souza has had solo exhibits of his photographs at Kansas State University, Fermilab, the U.S. Naval Academy, the Navy Museum, the University of North Carolina, Boston University, and the National Press Club in Washington. His photographs have also been part of group exhibits at the National Archives, Smithsonian Museum of American History, Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Newseum,  and the 92nd Street Y in New York City.

He is a native of South Dartmouth, Mass.  He graduated cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in public communication from Boston University and received his master's degree in journalism and mass communication from Kan State U.

Sources: PeteSouza.com; White House; Wikipedia.











Pete Souza: "We had just watched (November 15, 2012) 'Lincoln' in the White House theatre with the director, screenwriter and many of the actors attending. Later, the President invited Daniel Day-Lewis upstairs to see the Lincoln Bedroom in the private residence. Here is Day-Lewis, who had just come to life as Abraham Lincoln, viewing the Gettysburg Address."  

Photo by Pete Souza.


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