ASMP member photographer, and past Chief White House photographer to President Barack Obama, Pete Souza, speaks with ASMP Executive Director Tom Kennedy. Pete went to K-State where he started his photography journey with the school’s newspaper. After quite a journey, he found himself as the White House photographer for both President Ronald Reagan and President Barack Obama. In this episode, Tom and Pete talk about Pete’s time at the school paper, to teaching, to the Sun Times, to National Geographic, the Oval Office and everything that came in between.
In this episode, we talk about…
- Pete’s inspirations that set him on his photography journey
- Transitioning from the Chanute Tribune to the Chicago Sun-Times
- Finding his way to Washington to work for Ronald Reagan
- Looking for those moments that really showed what the president was like
- Putting pictures into the media ecosystem in different eras
- Traveling around the world with Reagan vs. Obama
- Learning experiences that came from working at National Geographic
- Being on the ground in Afghanistan before the troops arrived
- Building a rapport with Barack Obama in D.C.
- Maintaining professional emotions during very significant historical moments
- Understanding the importance of having visual documentation of the presidency
- Juggling the responsibilities of running the office and being the president’s photographer
- Addressing the challenge of painting the proper picture of Obama’s 8-year presidency
- Working on the Shade Project and how people are responding to it
- Advice for new photographers from Pete’s years of experience
Links to resources:
National Geographic
Keep up with Pete’s work on Instagram and check out his book, Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents
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