Pete Souza

I'm a little slow in getting around to this topic, but I wanted to take a moment to commend the Obama Administration on the appointment of Pete Souza as Official White House Photographer. I can't think of a better selection for this post. I've had the honor of knowing Souza since the early 90s, when I was a freshman at Kansas State University. Souza was a grad student at K-State in the late 70s and he's remained an active alumnus ever since. In 2001, I volunteered alongside Souza and other former K-State photographers to mentor current K-Staters during an intensive spring break photography workshop in Salina, Kansas. The last time I saw Souza was 2004, when he was in New York photographing the lead up to the Republican National Convention. We met up for a beer and that turned into several beers and afterwards I foolishly convinced him to check out the view of downtown from my rooftop as a lightning storm was underway. The next day I was petrified when I discovered a few people had been killed doing the exact same thing less than a mile away.

My knowledge of Barack Obama is synonymous with the images of Pete Souza. With the title of National Photographer for the Chicago Tribune, Souza photographed Obama's first year in the Senate, including his first Senatorial trip overseas in 2005, to Russia, as well as Obama's historic trip to Africa the following year. And so it was no surprise to see Souza was there in Springfield, Illinois in early 2007, photographing Obama alone backstage as he collected his thoughts moments before announcing his candidacy. I can't wait to see the images Souza gets in the coming days as well as in the next several months, and I wish him the best of luck.