By Maya Jenkins, Harvard College Class of 2021
Since leaving his post as chief official White House photographer for President Obama, Pete Souza has taken on another prestigious title: king of Instagram shade. While trolling President Trump seems to come naturally to Souza, his true and awe-inspiring talent lies in his ability to capture a person’s essence through his photography.
On Wednesday, Sept. 20, Pete Souza joined Ann Marie Lipinski, curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism, at the Harvard Institute of Politics’ JFK Jr. Forum to discuss his career and his new book, OBAMA: An Intimate Portrait, which comes out in November. The book’s title is apt. During Souza’s eight years as White House photographer, he took almost 2 million pictures, most of them of President Obama. But Souza captured more than just images. He captured moments that, together, tell the story of Barack Obama – of his character, his will and his values.
Souza provided for his audience a taste of what his book will offer to the world: an intimate look at the man who made history, and began by showing them this photograph:
“This photo tells you a lot about him,” Souza said. He went on to explain that President Obama would often write and edit a speech, and then sit down to go over his edits with his speechwriter Jon Favreau. “He could’ve just said here, go change it,” Souza said, but instead President Obama took the time to discuss each change. The care with which he treated his speeches is made clear through this photo, and it does indeed tell us a lot about him as speaker and as a collaborator.
President Obama’s gifted oration was a cornerstone of his presidency, and helped propel him into the national spotlight. Once he landed in the Oval Office, President Obama’s legacy immediately and permanently became one that inspired countless Americans, including young people of color. Souza captured this sentiment of inspiration and so much more when he took this famous photograph:
This photo features Jacob Philadelphia, who was 4 years old at the time. In recounting the photo’s story, Souza spoke of how, after prompting from his mother, Jacob meekly said, “Mr. President, my friend said my hair is just like yours.” President Obama bent over wordlessly, so that Jacob could find out for himself. Souza remembered that he didn’t know this was going to happen and moved into place at the last possible second to capture the moment. People everywhere are grateful that he did, as the photo continues to represent for all of us the power of representation and of the Obama presidency.
Pete Souza, as Anne Marie Lipinski noted in her introduction of him, seeks a characteristic humanity in all of his photographic subjects. We see that discerning eye for humanity in his photo of Jacob Philadelphia with the former president. We also see it in this photo:
It is not often that we get a peek into the true identities of our leaders, but Souza, in his extensive work with President Obama, gave his audience a fuller picture of our former president – including his flair for comedy. In describing the photo to the audience Souza said, “This is Marvin Michelson. Marvin was always on a diet, always trying to lose weight. The thing that strikes me now is, why would you hold your books if you were weighing yourself?” It seems that Souza’s penchant for jokes predates his presidential trolling. We have Souza to thank for revealing President Obama’s sense of humor to us again and again over the course of his eight years in office.
What else do we as a nation owe Pete Souza? The treasure that is the Obama-Biden memes. Without Pete Souza’s characteristic eye for humanity, the bromantic photos that captured our hearts for months would not exist.
“Two bros right?” Souza said of this photo. “Yeah, yeah I miss those guys. They didn't know each other well at the start of the administration. By the end of the administration they were brothers.” Souza said it best. While the days of wholesome brotherhood in the White House may be gone for now, Souza’s ability to capture the close relationship between Vice President Biden and President Obama will forever serve as a testament to their power as leaders and as friends.
The pictures of Obama and Biden are forever preserved in our minds because of the love that spills out of them. But one picture that Souza showed his audience at the Forum conveys the opposite feeling.
“This is how you should speak to Russia,” Souza said. “I’ll leave it at that.” The king of shade strikes again.
Although President Obama is no longer in the White House, his legacy remains. A legacy protected, in part by Pete Souza’s incredible photographic talent. Souza truly captured President Obama’s essence in every photo that he took. His collection is a national archive which we will treasure for generations, just as we treasure this photo that Souza took of “the two biggest ears in Washington.”
In her introduction, Anne Marie Lipinski described Souza as a photographer who could capture compassion and beauty anywhere. The compassion and beauty Pete Souza captured in the White House stands as a reminder of what has been, and what can be. His visual record of the White House, as Lipinski put it, is a national treasure.
Check out the full video of the forum below for more!
Maya Jenkins is a freshman at Harvard College and plans on concentrating in Social Studies. In addition to being a member of the JFK Jr. Forum Committee, Maya works with the Politics of Race and Ethnicity program at the Institute of Politics.
Support HuffPost
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.