obama

Reality Show President: An Exposé on the Battle Between the Press and White House

Since late 2013, the White House and the White House Press Corps have clashed several times over. We've covered this briefly in the past, but if you're still not sure what's going on, how it came to be and why exactly members of the press have gone so far as to call the administration's policies regarding press access "Orwellian," this exposé by ReasonTV may help clear things up for you.

Chief White House Photog Pete Souza is Now an Instagrammer

How do you take the next step after rising from humble newspaper shooter to chief official photographer for the White House? You start sharing pictures of your lunch, of course.

At least that's the strategy for Oval Office documentarian Pete Souza, who opened his new Instagram account Wednesday with an image of healthy snacks aboard Air Force One.

The Humorous Photobombs Dropped at Obama’s Inauguration

Here's a bit of lighthearted humor as we heat up the bloggin' machine today: at the second inauguration of Barack Obama this past Monday, a number of humorous photobombs were spotted in the live television coverage and in the press photos that emerged afterward. A few of them have the web talking (and laughing).

In the photograph above by Jim Bourg of Reuters, we see New York Senator Chuck Schumer photobombing during the oath of office.

A Time-Lapse of President Obama with Photos from the Past Four Years

For his project Presidial.org, Chicago-based artist Jeremy Tubbs collected random news photographs of Barack Obama captured between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2012, aligned them, and then turned them into the above time-lapse video. The 2,500+ photographs were scraped from various online sources and are arranged in chronological order.

Photographing the President Overseas: A “Giant Chaotic Moving Game of Chess”

Reuters has released this interesting behind-the-scenes look into what it was like to be a news photographer trailing President Obama as he made an official visit to the nation of Myanmar in November -- the first by a US president. The video offers a glimpse into how hectic the job is, as photographers must rush from place to place, out of vans and into venues, in hopes of capturing a historic and newsworthy shot.

Obamas’ Hug Becomes the Most “Liked” Facebook Photo of All Time

Barack Obama broke online photo-sharing records this week after winning Tuesday's presidential election. When his victory became evident, Obama shared the above photograph on his Facebook timeline with the simple caption, "Four more years." That photograph quickly attracted "likes" faster than any other image shared through the social networking service. When it hit more than 2.1 million likes shortly after midnight Wednesday morning, Facebook announced that it had become the most-liked Facebook photo of all time.

Photojournalists Reflect on Documenting Obama’s Reelection Campaign

The 2012 election season is now over, and photojournalists who have been scrambling for many months on the campaign trail can now take a breather and reflect on their experiences. Reuters sent us the video above in which Reuters White House photographer Jason Reed offers a short 2-minute-long behind-the-scenes look at what it was like to photograph Barack Obama as he hustled around the nation, "from riding in motorcades through the streets of Manhattan to flying in Air Force One."

Hillary Clinton Gets ‘Shopped Out of Iconic War Room Photo by Newspaper

Pete Souza's iconic photo of Obama and his national security team in the Situation Room has become extremely well known in the span of a week, so it's unlikely that any reputable media outlet would dare alter the photo in any way -- but that's exactly what one newspaper did. Orthodox Hasidic newspaper Der Tzitung has a policy of never publishing photographs of women, and decided to publish Obama's situation room photograph with Hillary Clinton and counterterrorism director Audrey Tomason Photoshopped out of the frame.

AP Takes Legal Action for the Release of bin Laden Death Photos

President Obama announced last week that photographs of Osama bin Laden's body would not be released to the public due to concerns that it would incite violence and hatred, but a number of news agencies and advocacy groups are attempting to have them released using a Freedom of Information Act request. The Associated Press is one of the agencies that filed a FOIA request (they're also requesting that video of the raid be released), and the US government has 20 days to respond.

Controversy Crops Up Over Economist Cover Photo

The Economist is in hot water after running an extremely edited photograph of President Obama on a Louisiana beach. The cover photo shows Obama alone on the beach. But the original photo, taken by Reuters photographer Larry Downing, shows that Obama was, in fact, not alone at all.

The altered image crops out Admiral Thad W. Allen of the Coast Guard, but also goes an extra step to completely omit the presence of Charlotte Randolph, a Louisiana parish president (perhaps with Photoshop CS5's content-aware fill).

This is a huge problem because The Economist's omissions entirely change the tone of the image in order to make Obama appear alone, hanging his head, when in fact he is likely looking down at the beach while in conversation with the two people next to him.  Additionally, according to journalism ethics, news photos should not be altered, especially to this extent.

Obama Photo Used Illegally on Billboard

We're on a roll with controversial advertisements today. New York garment company Weatherproof has gotten the attention of the White House after illegally using a photograph of President Obama's visit to the Great Wall of China on a billboard in New York City (41st St. and 7th Ave.)