For many of a certain political persuasion — especially now, as we go through a dystopia of disease, racial strife and climate catastrophe —Barack Obamais taking on legendary status.
Like the kingship of Arthur in England, the presidency of Obama seems very far away, so far away that at times it’s hard to be sure that it ever really happened. Fortunately for Obama, unlikeKing Arthur, there’s a photographic record, the most artistic and significant of which are the photos made byPete Souza, who was with Obama for the full eight years of his presidency.
Souza is the subject of a new documentary from San Francisco filmmakerDawn Porter, who keeps making good ones (“Bobby Kennedy for President,”“John Lewis: Good Trouble”). The film is anchored in a public lecture given by Souza, in which he shows his photos and tells their stories. Interspersed with these vignettes are scenes of Souza and Obama behind the scenes.
Souza is a surprising person. He has a gruff, direct personality but also an emotional streak (on several occasions he chokes up while recalling some incident). He is also fairly loquacious for a guy who managed to keep his mouth shut and blend into the wallpaper every day for years.
Souza有无限的访问。如果有事发生on, Souza, as the official White House photographer, was there. This is in contrast with the accepted practice in the Trump administration, which lets in photographers for staged photos. At one point, Souza contrasts the photo he took of Obama in the situation room during the Osama bin Laden raid with a comparable photo of President Trump and his lieutenants. One photo is real and alive, while the other is false and without any historical value.
Souza makes the case for the value of the still image. In modern times, much of what a president does is documented in endless video footage. But at several points in the film, Porter shows how a single image — the little boy touching Obama’s hair or the sight of the president comforting the parent of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting — can crystallize a moment for history.
Before Obama, Souza worked as a photographer for the Reagan administration. Those are two heavy-hitting presidents, arguably the two most important of the past 40 years. From Souza’s remarks, one gets the impression that he didn’t particularly share Ronald Reagan’s politics but thought he was a good man trying to do his best.
His opinion of the current president is of another order. It is a curious thing: Souza is much better known today than he was when he was doing the work of a lifetime during Obama’s two terms. UsingTwitter, Souza started posting photos of Obama while issuing subtle but unmistakably caustic critiques of Trump. And with that, Souza became famous.
However, Souza’s lasting fame will derive from his photographic legacy. Like the photos of John F. Kennedy in the White House, those of Obama evoke an era and an ideal. Obama foreign policy adviser Ben Rhodes says at one point in the film that the America Souza captures in his images is the America he wants to live in. It’s likely that there are people yet unborn who will feel the same way.
M“The Way I See It”:Documentary. Starring Pete Souza and Barack Obama. Directed by Dawn Porter. (R. 100 minutes.) Available in select theaters starting Friday, Sept. 18, and airing on MSNBC at 7 p.m. Oct. 16.www.focusfeatures.com/the-way-i-see-it
Editor’s note: The original version of this review included incorrect information on how to watch this film. The documentary is not currently showing in Bay Area theaters and is not yet available to stream.
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