Two new photography collections were published this month that capture President Obama’s journey to the White House and their 8 years of governing.
Hope, Never Fear: A Personal Portrait of the Obamas is by Callie Shell, who developed a personal friendship with the Obamas covering their campaigns and White House. Despite being intensely busy (and really famous in the photography sector) she kindly responded to me by email when I was looking for an Obama photograph I appeared in. (We never found it! Anyone else attend then-Sen. Obama’s event in Richmond in 2007 at Plant Zero?!?)
Yes We Did: Photos and Behind-the-Scenes Stories Celebrating Our First African American President is by Lawrence Jackson, an official White House photographer. Jackson mentioned he was reluctant to publish after Pete Souza released his first mega-sale Obama photography book, but thankfully he did. This book includes a foreward from President Obama and personal reminiscences from Obama Administration leaders. People Magazine covered the launch of his book yesterday.
As always, below is the growing list of Obama-era memoirs to fill in the picture of the 8 years of Camelot:
- The Education of an Idealist by Susan Power (Obama Ambassador to the UN)
- Window Seat on the World: My Travels with the Secretary of State by Glen Johnson (Communications Director for Secretary Kerry; former Boston Globe reporter)
- Thanks Obama: My Hopey Changey White House Years by David Litt (Obama speechwriter)
- The World As It Is by Ben Rhodes (Obama senior advisor)
- Yes We Still Can by Dan Pfeiffer (Obama White House Communications Director)
- Who Thought This Was a Good Idea by Alyssa Mastromonaco (Obama White House Deputy Chief of Staff)
- Believer by David Axelrod (Obama senior advisor)
- From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein (Obama White House official stenographer)
- West Wingers by Gautam Raghavan (Obama Associate Director of Public Engagement)
- West Winging It by Pat Cunnane (Obama Deputy Director of Messaging)
- Yes She Can: 10 Stories of Hope & Change from Young Female Staffers of the White House (young adult/children’s focus)
- The Audacity to Win by David Plouffe (Obama senior advisor)
- Shade by Pete Souza (Obama White House photographer)
- Obama: An Intimate Portrait by Pete Souza (Obama White House photographer)
- Obama: An Oral History 2009-2017 by Brian Abrams (digital media-based journalist with other “oral history of...” credits)