Today, the Obama Transition Team released what they are calling "the new official portrait for President Barack Obama. It was taken by Pete Souza, the newly-announced official White House photographer. It is the first time that an official presidential portrait was taken with a digital camera."
This morning on the Today Show (NBC), the photographer, Pete Souza, unveiled the photo (at just about the time it became available on the Change.gov website). He said it took 4 hours to set up the shot, and he had just 5 minutes with Barack Obama. He and his assistant narrowed their choice down to 2 different pictures, and settled on this one. It was then run by Robert Gibbs who has been named to be the Obama Administration's Press Secretary.
Souza has been taking Obama's photos since 2005, when Obama was sworn into the Senate. On January 5th, he was named official White House Photographer for the incoming Administration.
So, without further ado, here it is (below the fold)...
The Change.gov site has a full-sized version (1916 x 2608 pixels; about 6.38 x 8.69 inches at 300 dpi) you can download here.
As they said on the Today Show... you're going to be seeing this in airports, government buildings, schools, everywhere. So get used to it. It won't be hard for me... not having to see Chimpy McNumbNuts' mug everywhere anymore.
In light of recent news about the high cost of offical portraits the Bush gang have foisted upon us - and admittedly, these are mostly of the paint-and-brush type - it's nice to have a citizen-friendly, relatively inexpensive portrait.
I remember growing up having a framed, color photo of John F. Kennedy in my bedroom... right next to the map of the United States, the little box that held painted plastic figures of all the US Presidents... man, was I a political geek that young?!?! Anyway, when I downloaded the Obama portrait and printed out a color print, it took me back.
I've seen where during the Great Depression (not this one, the first one), folks would proudly display FDR's picture. They said it gave them hope, that it reminded them that someone was working hard to make things better.
What are your memories? Did you ever have a President's picture in your house (even in your bedroom) growing up?