I can't believe they let that lady put something in the President's pocket. Isn't that a security hazard?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:05 PM on January 1, 2015

I nominate Obama as huggiest President ever.
posted by bendy at 1:12 PM on January 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

That bunny photo is just begging for a caption contest.
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 1:19 PM on January 1, 2015

THE EARS
posted by Dashy at 1:25 PM on January 1, 2015

The ears?
posted by fullerine at 1:26 PM on January 1, 2015

You gotta love Bill Murray. The actor had been invited to the White House along with other cast members of 'The Monuments Men' for a movie screening in the Family Theater of the White House. Prior to the screening, the President was to greet some of cast members in the Diplomatic Reception Room. A White House staff person had told Murray where to stand, meaning before the greet. But when the President walked into the room, Murray stayed put, saying 'they told me to stand here.'"

Also it is always endearing to me how much the president appears to enjoy interacting with children.
posted by winna at 1:27 PM on January 1, 2015 [9 favorites]

Where'd they get those couches and the coffee table? Value City?
I mean...seriously...That's the single most fugly table I've ever seen.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:29 PM on January 1, 2015 [6 favorites]

Serious question: Why do we need "a more personal sense of who the President and First Lady are"? What important information is conveyed by these photos that isn't conveyed by Obama's political record? Why are federal funds used to pay the salary of what amounts to a glorified paparazzo?
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:40 PM on January 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

I think the tiara photo wins 2014!
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 1:42 PM on January 1, 2015 [9 favorites]

It's a little thing, but -

I watch the Kennedy Center Honors each year, and I gotta say I've been getting the biggest kick out of the shows during the Obama administration - the camera cuts to them every so often, and they are just so candid about enjoying themselves during the show, be it the president getting awfully snuggly while listening to Lenny Kravitz do "Whole Lotta Love" (and SINGING ALONG!), or giving Bruce Springsteen a jokey handshake when Jon Stewart joked that Bruce was the child of Bob Dylan and James Brown; and then there's Michelle raising the roof to Snoop Dogg, and then a couple days ago I saw her grooving to Bruno Mars covering The Police.

I don't know if the Obamas are just really comfortable in front of a camera or they are just naturally open and candid, but either way they make for good subjects.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:48 PM on January 1, 2015 [7 favorites]

Press photographers have been complaining about the White House's use of its internal propaganda press studio for years. They find themselves frozen out of (what would have been) photo opportunities, and forced to use images supplied by the White House.
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:51 PM on January 1, 2015 [5 favorites]

The President's Photographer is a great documentary from PBS that does a good job explaining the scope and purpose of this role.
posted by girlmightlive at 1:59 PM on January 1, 2015 [8 favorites]

> give people a more personal sense of who the President and First Lady are

Honestly, this is a Bad Idea. Americans are far too focused on "whether they could have a beer with the President" and various personal characteristics of their political leaders, characteristics which are basically irrelevant to actual job performance.

I think it's important for a skeptical person - especially one who supports the person in the photos - to remind themselves that photos like this are carefully staged propaganda events and won't reveal anything that isn't intended to be revealed.

I'd also add that in the United States, there is a very cosy relationship between the Administration and reporters. That video where George W. Bush pretends to search for weapons of mass destruction while reporters emit gales of laughter is deeply disturbing to anyone who thinks of the press as a watchdog.

In other countries, there is a relationship of mistrust and suspicion between reporters and the government. This is a very healthy state of affairs and keeps everyone honest. Since in the US our media isn't doing it for us, we need to do it for ourselves.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 2:32 PM on January 1, 2015 [5 favorites]

I love photography by government employees, both for its documentary value & its being free of copyright restrictions. Government works are a large source for illustrating my online publications.

My favorite Souza shot, which I've used a lot as a writing teacher, is the one of Obama revising a speech.
posted by audi alteram partem at 2:59 PM on January 1, 2015 [9 favorites]

Every photo of Obama with a kid is always adorable/hilarious and awesome.
posted by lunasol at 3:45 PM on January 1, 2015 [6 favorites]

Oh for god's sake, it's pictures of Obama meeting people and hanging out with his family. Yeah, it's propaganda, but it's pretty value-neutral propaganda.

People who support Obama will look at these pics and say, "aww, that's nice" or "hmm, that's interesting." People who don't support him will grumble about him wearing a tiara (actually, that one is blatant feminist propaganda, so it's not value-neutral, it's wonderful) or say it's cynical. People who don't care one way or another will probably not be won over to warentless wiretapping or drone wars because of a few pictures.

And complaining about Pete Souza's salary? That's literally nothing compared to the billions spent on defense or corporate subsidies every year.
posted by lunasol at 4:07 PM on January 1, 2015 [20 favorites]

I'm not surprised at the comments here, but it's so tiresome. The photos are not propaganda they are for the historical record. Paparazzi? Oi vey. We get it, you hate him!
posted by feste at 4:33 PM on January 1, 2015 [16 favorites]

I enjoy these photos for what they are, moments/snap-shots of events in his day to day life. They're wonderful.
posted by Fizz at 4:38 PM on January 1, 2015 [5 favorites]

I don't know lupus, do you really think there isn't a "relationship of mistrust and suspicion between reporters and the government" in the US? We have a broad spectrum of media here, and I would find it hard to say it's all worshipful of the presidency, and this president in particular.

Besides, Souza is not a reporter working for a news media organization. And while I have little sympathy for public relations departments, every entity gets to have one, so why shouldn't the president?
posted by tommyD at 4:58 PM on January 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

I am capable of admiring pictures and still critically regarding the subject of those pictures. It's not that challenging a feat. I'm not all like 'huh Obama held a bunch of babies and looked happy to do so hence his drone program is completely unexceptionable.'
posted by winna at 5:07 PM on January 1, 2015 [7 favorites]

The photos are not propaganda they are for the historical record. Paparazzi? Oi vey. We get it, you hate him!

No, I don't hate Obama; I hate the sickness in American culture that turns public servants into celebrities and judges them on their telegenicity and photoreadiness instead of the strengths of their ideas. Souza is just a symptom.

And conversely, if this is really about the historical record, maybe we should just put all of our elected officials under 24-hour public surveillance. Where was Souza's predecessor when Dick Cheney was having secret meetings with energy executives? We don't need someone following them around with a camera; we need to keep an eye on the bastards ourselves.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:21 PM on January 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

winna: "Also it is always endearing to me how much the president appears to enjoy interacting with children."

He is the Daddest president we have ever had. When they do photo ops where he's reading children's books, you can tell he's done it a MILLION times, is not that far away from it, and is totally unselfconscious about being a dork around kids. He does all the voices and lots of dramatic pausing and whatnot.

I LOVE the one of him looking at the Rembrandt looking at the photographer. Not so much a great photo of the president, but just a great art photo.

Also, holy shit, dude. ("...First Lady toured the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas")

I also like the koala one. But mostly just because I like koalas.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:31 PM on January 1, 2015 [5 favorites]

What I see in Souza's photos is a glimpse into the insanely nonstop and variable settings a working president endures. It's nice to be reminded that he's human, not just the title. To those of us who will never get a chance to meet him or sit down for lunch, I think it's great to have this small window into his world.

I admit I haven't perused the archives of previous presidents, but I can't imagine GW Bush in very many of these shots looking as relaxed & genuinely listening.
posted by yoga at 5:33 PM on January 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

Where was Souza's predecessor when Dick Cheney was having secret meetings with energy executives?

But it's not an either or proposition. The problem is not that there's a White House photographer, but that Cheney was able to operate in the dark. The photographer is there to document the President, not to glorify him. You're conflating two separate things. And photographing him is not about his celebrity, but so we can see what he does, and who he meets. Tens of thousands of photos every month are archived, which is an incredible resource for later generations of historians. You are blinded by your "hatred of the sickness" to the real, important work that is done by Pete Souza and his predecessors.
posted by feste at 5:37 PM on January 1, 2015 [6 favorites]

I also like the koala one.

And Putin in the background of the koala one.
posted by feste at 5:47 PM on January 1, 2015 [2 favorites]

The First Lady and several others are banished to the Phantom Zone.
posted by dirigibleman at 5:53 PM on January 1, 2015 [3 favorites]

That koala looks super baked.
Dude. Duuuuuuuude! I think, I think I'm hanging on the PRESIDENT!
posted by mon-ma-tron at 6:11 PM on January 1, 2015 [11 favorites]

The photographer is there to document the President, not to glorify him

I'm not going to argue the historical value of having someone photographing important moments in government, but do you think Souza would still have his job if he didn't paint Obama in a flattering light? How many shots of Obama, say, smoking has he released? There is a propagandistic shade to his job, undeniably.
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 6:21 PM on January 1, 2015

Every photo of Obama with a kid is always adorable/hilarious and awesome.

The best is the one with him and a team of Brownie Girl Scouts all wearing tiaras.

Speaking from experience, being not just willing, but happy, to wear the sparkly princess stuff is a sure sign of "this guy is an awesome father for his daughters."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:22 PM on January 1, 2015 [4 favorites]

I think these are fantastic
posted by growabrain at 6:56 PM on January 1, 2015 [1 favorite]

There is so much going on in this picture.

The text is: December 1, 2014 "Following the outcry over the shooting of Michael Brown by a policeman in Ferguson, Missouri, the President invited young civil rights leaders to a meeting in the Oval Office. Many of them had protested in Ferguson. A 30-minute scheduled meeting last more than an hour. As the meeting broke up, the President continued the conversation for a few minutes and I then managed to frame the bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the foreground."
posted by selfmedicating at 7:50 PM on January 1, 2015 [5 favorites]

What lens was Souza shooting with for that photo he took in front of Air Force One, with that stripe on the tarmac? That is extremely impressive.
posted by gucci mane at 12:32 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

These are great, thanks for the post.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:14 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Reading some of the comments in this thread, though, I just wish there was a photo of Obama eating a plate of beans.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:19 AM on January 2, 2015 [6 favorites]

This "emperor" shit has gone too far...
posted by Ogre Lawless at 2:48 AM on January 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

So I saw how he had the phones on the left of his desk and then went back surprised to him signing a bill and realized I went all this time without realizing Obama's a lefty
posted by Gymnopedist at 6:20 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

I kind of love/am scared by Putin hovering in the background of the koala photo.
posted by olya at 8:30 AM on January 2, 2015

Apart from Obama with kids--which is always magical--any shot involving Barack and Michelle is a delight. Those two are pretty obviously completely daffy about each other (or absolutely world-class in faking it, I guess), which is a beautiful thing to see. It can't be easy maintaining a relationship in that fishbowl.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:38 AM on January 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

That koala looks super baked.

From what I understand about the effects of eucalyptus on the koala metabolism, I think it actually is super baked.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:44 AM on January 2, 2015

Looking at this one, though:

"It's true that the President has a calm demeanor. Not always though. Here the President expresses his dismay at comments from a Republican member of Congress discussing the administration's policy in Syria during a meeting with the chairs and ranking members of congressional national security committees. This frank exchange was later reported in the press."

Was Luther standing just outside of the frame, or something? Because Obama looks like he's saying "I know you say It's a Wonderful Life is Jimmy Stewart's best film, but I'm going to have to stick with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as the best."

I mean, he looks way more annoyed in the shot with Putin.
posted by Lexica at 9:40 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

Because Obama looks like he's saying "I know you say It's a Wonderful Life is Jimmy Stewart's best film, but I'm going to have to stick with Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as the best."

Nobody ever picks Strategic Air Command.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:45 AM on January 2, 2015 [3 favorites]

I kind of love/am scared by Putin hovering in the background of the koala photo.
olya

That koala later mysteriously died of polonium poisoning.
posted by Sangermaine at 10:57 AM on January 2, 2015 [2 favorites]

One of the reasons I think people have weird feelings about these photos is that they're incredibly good - Pete Souza is probably the best White House photographer that's ever held the post.
posted by longdaysjourney at 11:01 AM on January 2, 2015 [5 favorites]

Lexica: Looking at this one, though:

You know what just struck me? If I was shown that picture as my only information about Obama, I wouldn't even realize he was of African American decent. He could be an Italian with a crew cut. I wonder to what degree the lightness of his skin made him more palatable to some... unconsciously, lessening the pressure to choose people of their own "tribe"/that "look like them". "Having a beer with him" kinda implies "someone from my direct, local peer group", which for many people is someone of the same race.

Of course, for the haters, one drop taints all.
posted by IAmBroom at 1:17 PM on January 2, 2015

In looking through these photos, I learned about Obama's Oval Office rug (photos of it here). It has some inspiring quotes about the capacity for human action for good, though their position on the floor & on the boundary of the rug could make for some interesting deconstruction.
posted by audi alteram partem at 4:00 PM on January 2, 2015

The photo of Obama getting a 3D photo taken by the Smithsonian looked so eerie and dystopian and I loved it. It felt so Orwellian to imagine our President sitting with a wall of lenses to work.
posted by msbutah at 4:08 PM on January 2, 2015

My favourite Obama photo is several years old now, and the Mckayla Maroney meme is long gone, but it showed how in touch either he or his staff were.
posted by greenhornet at 11:45 PM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

This is my favorite Obama photo by Souza. It's very evocative of the American Dream to me, and also of the comfort of and longing for home, and the coziness of having family to share it with.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:02 AM on January 3, 2015 [2 favorites]

No question, this photo ("I want to know if my hair is just like yours") is my all-time favorite, but this is my favorite from 2014. The look on that girl's face is the definition of enraptured, and perhaps, aspirational. Thanks for posting!
posted by olopua at 12:54 PM on January 6, 2015 [1 favorite]