Shade by Pete Souza

Last night, we finally watched the documentary “The Way I See It” about Chief Official White House photographer Pete Souza. He built his reputation as an ace photographer behind the camera, only to recently step in front of the camera to voice his opinions this year. We went to see Souza a few years ago when he was promoting his book “Obama: An Intimate Portrait.” I saw him speak in San Francisco and he described his eight years taking photographs in the Barak Obama White House. He spent nearly every waking hour with the president. What many people do not know is that he was a White House photographer when Ronald Reagan was in office, and shares fond memories of that experience, too. To have taken photographs during the presidency of not only an iconic Republican president, but also a Democratic living legend, is impressive in anyone’s career. What happens after Obama takes that final helicopter ride off the White House lawn is quite fascinating. Souza started posting his pictures of the Obama years on his Instagram account, and eventually paired them with Tweets, headlines and quotes from Donald Trump’s first 500 days in office. The juxtaposition is quite startling. Souza’s once silent photos and memories of the Obama years become a loud and biting conduit for throwing “shade,” or publicly criticizing the current White House Administration. His arc from a life-long photographer to an advocate for change is compelling and interesting to examine. No matter who you plan to vote for on November 3, just do one thing: VOTE. It is the single thing we can all do to make our voices heard. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.