Peter J. Souza is an American photojournalist, the current Chief
Official White House photographer for President Barack Obama and the director
of the White House Photography Office. Souza was the official White House
photographer from 1983 to 1989 during Ronald Reagan's presidency. He was a
photographer with The Chicago Tribune, stationed at the Washington, D.C. bureau
from 1998–2007; during this period he also followed the rise of then-Senator
Obama to the presidency. Early life and education
Souza was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts and grew up in South
Dartmouth, Massachusetts. He is of Portuguese ancestry; both sets of his
grandparents emigrated from the Azores. Souza graduated cum laude with a
Bachelor of Science in public communication from Boston University and
a master's degree in journalism and mass communication from Kansas State
University. Career
Souza started his career in the 1970s in Kansas at the Chanute Tribune and the
Hutchinson News. In early 80s, he was a photographer for the Chicago Sun-Times.
He served as an official White House photographer for President Ronald Reagan
during his second term, from June 1983 until 1989. He was also the official
photographer for the funeral services of Ronald Reagan.
Thereafter, he continued to be based in Washington D.C., and worked for 10 years
as a photographer for the Chicago Tribune Washington, D.C. bureau. It was
during this period that in 2004, Jeff Zeleny, now a political writer for the
New York Times, asked Souza to take photographs for a project documenting
Barack Obama's first year as U.S. senator.
Souza covered Obama’s arrival to the Senate in 2005 and met him for the first
time on Obama's first day in the Senate. He documented Obama's time in the
Senate, following him in many foreign trips including Kenya, South Africa, and
Russia. In the process he not only became close to Senator Obama, he ended
up following his rise to Presidency. In July 2008, Souza published a bestseller
photo-book The Rise of Barack Obama, featuring photographs between 2005 and
2008. In May 2009, Souza began using Flickr as
an official conduit for releasing White House photos. The photos were initially
posted with a Creative Commons Attribution license which required that
the original photographers be credited. Flickr later created a new license which
identified them as "United States Government Work" which does not carry
any copyright restrictions. The photos however are posted with the following
disclaimer, "This official White House photograph is being made available only
for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the
subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any
way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements,
emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of
the President, the First Family, or the White House."
Souza has also worked as a freelancer for National Geographic and Life
magazines. After September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, he was among the
first journalists to cover the war in Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul.
He was an assistant professor of photojournalism at Ohio University's
School of Visual Communication and later he was asked to become the official
White House photographer for his second time for the new President-elect Obama.
On January 14, 2009, the new presidential portrait was released; it
is the first time that an official presidential portrait was taken with a
digital camera. A week later he was present at the inauguration and the
following day he was the only photographer present for Obama's second
swearing-in on Obama's first workday in the Oval Office.
In 2010, National Geographic produced a program about Souza titled The
President's Photographer which featured Souza as the main subject while also
covering the previous White House photographers.
Souza's photograph taken at 4:06 pm on May 1, 2011, in the Situation Room
during the raid on Osama bin Laden, featuring Obama, Vice President Joe
Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and others quickly became
an iconic image. It also became one of the most viewed images on Flickr.
As White House photographer, Souza travels with the president to document
each meeting, trip and encounter for historical record. Along with his staff,
Souza produces up to 20,000 pictures a week.
In November 2011, Souza was included on The New Republic's list of Washington's
most-powerful, least-famous people. Photo books
Unguarded Moments: Behind-the-scenes Photographs of President Reagan,
Tapestry Pr, 1997. ISBN 1-930819-37-4 Plebe summer at the U.S. Naval Academy:
photographs. P. Souza, 2003. ISBN 0-9729426-0-2
Images of Greatness: An Intimate Look at the Presidency of Ronald Reagan, Triumph
Books, 2004. ISBN 1-57243-701-4. The Rise of Barack Obama, Triumph Books,
2009. ISBN 1-60078-313-9. The President's Photographer: Fifty
Years Inside the Oval Office, with John Bredar. National Geographic, 2010. ISBN
1-4262-0676-3. References
External links Official website
Pete Souza on Twitter "Unguarded Moments" of President Ronald
Reagan Official White House Flickr Photostream