Pete Souza was the Chief Official White House Photographer for President Obama and the Director of the White House Photo Office. His new book, Shade (October 2018), is a portrait in contrasts, telling the tale of two presidencies through a series of powerful visual juxtapositions between the Obama and Trump administrations.
Just announced! American folk rock singer Brandi Carlile will be making a special guest appearance at Pete Souza’s event.
All ticket bundles (except Student/Under 25) include a copy of Souza’s latest book, Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents.
When Pete Souza left the White House in 2017, he didn’t know what it meant to “throw shade”—but he started doing it almost immediately on his personal Instagram account, posting his photographs from the Obama years with captions that vividly define the contrast between the Obama White House and President Trump’s administration. Media organizations caught on and couldn’t stop talking about Souza’s posts, with New York magazine calling them “a master class in shade,” CNN describing them as “a silent, social media, shade-throwing protest told in visuals,” and Politico naming him “King of Instagram Shade.” Souza’s following on Instagram has since grown to nearly two million people. He has also become a potent force in American life, offering incisive political criticism alongside powerful reminders of the best our country has to offer.
Shade combines Souza’s unforgettable images of President Obama delivering new power and meaning when framed by tweets, headlines, quotes, and other material from the first 500 days of the Trump administration. The book responds to fan demand for a book that captures Souza’s voice on Instagram, and will include more than one hundred photographs that did not appear in his previous book, Obama: An Intimate Portrait. More than a sharp compendium of clapbacks, Shade is a touchstone to an era of greater integrity in our politics. Souza’s work is a stirring reminder of the highest American values we share, giving us the courage to stand up and speak out for what we believe in.
Previously Souza was an Assistant Professor of Photojournalism at Ohio University, the national photographer for the Chicago Tribune, a freelancer for National Geographic, and an Official White House Photographer for President Reagan. His books include the New York Times bestseller The Rise of Barack Obama, which documents the president’s meteoric ascent from his first day in the United States Senate through the 2008 Pennsylvania presidential primary, and the #1 New York Times bestseller Obama: An Intimate Portrait. Souza is currently a freelance photographer based in Washington, DC, and is a Professor Emeritus at Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication.
