I would love to think that the title of this post related to me taking photographs of Barack Obama........ but its not! I watched a fascinating documentary this week about Pete Souza who is the official photographer to the White House. The programme looked at the role of the official photographer and also looked at the relationship between Pete Souza and the Obama family. It was really interesting to see how Pete works, how he has to be tactful, intuitive, able to react to ever changing situations and the main skill he showed was his ability to gain the trust of the Obama family so that he was able to capture the most intimate moments and tell the most amazing stories with his images. President Obama was interviewed and he admitted that the constant media scrutiny was one of the most difficult parts of his job and so having a photographer who he could trust, who could blend into the background but always capture the moment made life so much easier for him. One of the main functions of the White House Photographer is to develop and maintain a full archive of the Obama admisnistration as a piece of living history.... no pressure then!!!!
If you get the chance to watch this programme I urge you to do so.... as a photographer it made me think about the job that I do and how we are all trying to capture a little moment in time.... our children as they grow up... a family get together, a Wedding , or just a lovely walk in the park on a sunny day. It made me realise that trust is such an imprtant part of what we do.... we are trusted with special occasions, but mainly I feel that we are trusted to make the people we photograph feel incredibly special and beautiful so that the images become part of their family archive , to be treasured..... no pressure then!!!!
The Presidents Photographer Here is the link to the National Geographic site for further information
3 comments:
How true all of the above is Jo.
Trust is such a hard thing for people to give and can be damaged too easily.
Not thought deeply about it as a photographer, we take it for granted but its a good reminder for all of us :o)
hahahahaha...yes...no pressure then Jo ! ......lovely post.....I missed the documentary...wonder if its on I player???
I missed it too, can't see it on iplayer, ITV, 4oD or You Tube what channel was it on Jo ? It's great to watch how someone else works and how they capture magical moments. As a photographer I'd love the opportunity to follow someone around for a time capturing their lives in pictures.
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