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Introduction
This interactive timeline spans the lives of four presidential photographers. From former President George H. W. Bush’s photographer to President Obama’s photographer, this timeline documents how they got to their position and their relationship to their presidents. The four photographers are: David Valdez (former President George H. W. Bush), Robert McNeely (former President Bill Clinton), Eric Draper (former President George W. Bush) and Pete Souza (President Obama). -
David Valdez's Start
Shortly after David Valdez graduated high school, he was drafted into the U.S. Air Force where he was trained as a photographer. Later, he attended the University of Maryland studying journalism. As a student, he worked in the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as a photographer. He then joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce before becoming the former Vice President turned President George H. W. Bush’s personal photographer. -
Pete Souza's Start
Pete Souza was one of the official White House photographers during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, but was not chief photographer until Barack Obama’s presidency. Souza was working at the Chicago Tribune when he met Obama, covering his first year in office as Illinois’ junior senator. After departing the Tribune to work for Ohio University, Souza was asked by Obama to return to the White House. -
David Valdez's Photographs of George H. W. Bush
David Valdez took many mundane photographs of former President George H. W. Bush. Those photos often showed the former president in intimate settings with family members or they showed him full of vigour doing tasks like hunting. Many photos taken by Valdez of former President George H. W. Bush showed the former president as a family man and as one who is able to lead. -
David Valdez and George H. W. Bush
Photographing for former President George H. W. Bush, David Valdez traveled to 75 different countries and every state in the U.S. He later published a book that detailed former President George H. W. Bush’s life in George Herbert Walker Bush: A Photographic Profile. -
Robert McNeely's Start
McNeely started off as a Carter White House photographer, photographing Fritz Mondale. Through that work, he met people on the Clinton campaign. They spoke with him about becoming Clinton's photographer but he declined. After the 1992 convention, McNeely realized how great of a candidate Clinton was and regretted turning their job offer down. The next day, he received a phone call asking if he would take the job. -
McNeely's Portrayal of Bill Clinton
McNeely often portrayed Clinton as a charismatic leader. Whether that was a photo of him smiling while giving a speech, laughing with General Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Les Aspin, or playing the saxophone gifted to him by Russian President Boris Yeltsin. -
McNeely and Clinton's Friendship
McNeely and Clinton became close through the years. They played golf together, late night card games, and countless hours of McNeely silently taking photos of the president. “For 6 ½ years I have followed on Clinton’s heels everyday. One day following him into the oval office he spun in front of me to speak to someone behind us…It is the best picture i made of him while he was President,” Bob McNeely. -
Eric Draper's Start
Eric Draper began his professional photography career as a news and sports photographer for The Associated Press. He really got into political photography when he was assigned to cover the Republican side in the 1996 election. -
McNeely Quits
After the Lewinsky scandal broke, McNeely quit his job. "One of the reasons I left was that it turned out he'd lied to all of us," he said. The other was that he started being excluded from meetings in fear of lawyers asking him to testify. McNeely left because, "After that it stopped being about the Presidency. It was about him the personal and his very public personal failing. I did history, not personal." -
The White House Photographer Transitions from Film to Digital
Draper’s biggest innovation was the White House's transition from film to digital. This is what he had to say about it in his interview with Storybench, “The White House was behind the times when I walked in the door and we were all film. It took the entire first term to design and put in place a digital system, mainly because of the need for storage. By the time we made it into the second term, we had transitioned to digital.” He took nearly 1 million photographs documenting George W. Bush. -
Portraying George W. Bush
The creation of the White House website, a new distribution medium, as well as digital cameras’ impact of the sheer amount of photos really pressed Draper to balance the quantity versus quality of his photographs portraying the president. He seemed to find this balance by portraying the president as he was -- the good, the bad and the ugly -- and contextualizing each moment as a trained observer and storyteller. -
Pete Souza and Photographs of Barack Obama
Souza states that though he does not have open access to the private lives of the Obamas, he made sure the administration promised him complete access for all official activities. He makes sure that he is there to document each and every important moment, including the now-famous photo he took during the raid of Osama bin Laden. -
Pete Souza, Flickr and Instagram
Souza ensures that unlike previous administrations, the public is able to see his photos in real time, posting them online via websites such as Flickr and Instagram. He also says none of the photos are censored by the White House, so each photo released is exactly how Souza took each one and contains all of the content he chose to photograph.
