In 2009, when Pete Souza was offered the job of chief official White House photographer, he had one condition: ultimate access to President Barack Obama. The president agreed, allowing Souza (’76) to capture nearly two million images of his personal and professional life over the next eight years, from spontaneous family snow-day excursions to legislative milestones.

“I probably spent more time with Pete Souza than with anybody other than my family,” Obama wrote in the foreword to Obama: An Intimate Portrait (Little, Brown and Company, 2017), Souza’s 2017 book of photographs and stories from Obama’s presidency. “Having Pete around made my life better. Pete became more than a photographer—he became a friend, a confidant, and a brother.”

Souza, who was previously a White House photographer for President Ronald Reagan, received the Hugo X. Shong Lifetime Achievement in Communication Award from the College of Communication on February 2, 2018. “When you hit 60, people start giving you awards,” he joked. He signed copies of his book, which features more than 300 of his images, and spoke about photographing the president.

http://id-damien.cms-devl.bu.edu/com/comtalk/photographing-president-obama/?preview=true

By Justin Saglio (’17)

Souza was on-scene to document the day Obama considered the best of his presidency: March 23, 2010, when he signed the Affordable Care Act. “He said to me that he was happier this day than the day he was elected president,” Souza told the audience.

By Pete Souza 

He was present for the president’s worst day as well: December 14, 2012. Souza captured Obama’s sober expression as he was informed by John Brennan, homeland security advisor, that a tragedy had taken place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Local resident Adam Lanza, 20, had shot and killed 26 people at the school, including 20 first graders. In that moment, Souza said, Obama “was reacting not just as a president, but as a parent.”

By Pete Souza 

By Pete Souza

Souza also told the COM audience about capturing images that showed Obama off duty: the competitive sportsman, the dedicated dad. In Manhattan in 2009, the president decided to play a quick game of basketball with his personal aide, Reggie Love. Souza snapped away as they dribbled down the court. After Obama successfully blocked a shot by Love, he asked Souza if he’d gotten the move on camera. As the president looked over his shoulder, watching him search through the digital images, “I could feel the sweat dripping down my neck,” Souza recalled. When he found the photo, Obama said, “Make that a jumbo,” referring to the oversize prints displayed each week in the West Wing.

The photos Souza took of Obama with his daughters were always the president’s favorites, he said. During one heavy snowstorm in 2010, Souza slept in his office to make sure he was around to catch any shots of the president playing in the snow with Malia and Sasha the next day. Souza has called it his favorite day on the job.

By Pete Souza

Obama took notice of Souza’s work. “In addition to his exceptional eye,” he wrote in Souza’s book, “Pete has a remarkable talent for making himself invisible. In fact, what makes Pete such an extraordinary photographer, I think, is something more than his ability to frame an interesting moment. It’s his capacity to capture the mood, the atmosphere, and the meaning of that moment.”

In a previous COM interview, Souza acknowledged that the job of chief official White House photographer is both a “great privilege” and a “grind.” BU helped him develop the grit to meet the demands of the job. In one COM class, he told the audience at his 2017 talk, he took what he thought was the perfect photograph of the Charles River; his professor gave him an A-. Souza said the experience helped him develop a dedication to continually improving his work. “Your pictures can always be a little better,” he said.