Pete Souza- #throwshadethenvote

Sunday two of my friends and I went to Pete Souza's talk in Culver City to promote his new photography book, Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents, and it was beyond awesome. Pete Souza served as the official photographer for President Obama while he was in the White House and had the privilege of having a very unique vantage point of the presidency. Since Trump's win he's taken to Instagram to wittily critique 45's tweets, rants, and decisions. This newest book offers a side-by-side cheeky comparison between Trump's presidency and Obama's. While they are initially pretty witty and humorous, the underlying reality is sobering and quite worrisome. 

Souza spoke for over a ninety-minutes, mostly under the structure of what we need to seek in our next vote for president. His examples were personal, involving his family, genuine, as seen with his handling of Sandy Hook, and professional, showing intense, pensive concentration in the Decision Room. The photographs are all amazing and Souza's talent for capturing the smallest gestures and facial expressions is impeccable. 

More than anything, I didn't expect how emotional the event would be. I'm sure I've teared up a time or two before with other speakers, but Souza had me wiping tears away MULTIPLE times (and not just me, everyone around me was dabbing their eyes). The hardest was his footage of Obama handling the tragic Sandy Hook shooting, but it was also incredibly bittersweet seeing how emotional he and Michelle were as they flew away from The White House together. There was also a ton of laughter, and lot of vigorous nods of agreement.

If you ever have the chance, I highly recommend getting to one of Pete Souza's talks (or at last follow him on Instagram). He's not a politician or even a flawless speaker, which is actually nice. He feels like just a regular guy who got to spend eight fascinating years with one of our country's best presidents.