get some of those questions, if not answered, at least planted in your mind as food for further thought and further discussion. we looked at just a few of the cars in our collection, but i think they represent a real cross-section of the american automobile over the last century and a quarter. announcer: you can watch this and other artifacts programs i visiting our website, c-span.org/history. history tv,merican three former white house photographers talk about their work with presidents george w. bush, bill clinton, and barack obama. sharon farmer, aaron draper, and lawrence jackson share photographs showing presidents in their public and private moments. we also see first families and white house staff and hear the stories behind each scene.

the annenberg space for photography hosted the event. it's about an hour and 40 minutes. >> good evening, everyone. how is everyone doing tonight? .lad to hear it i am the education and public programs manager here at the annenberg space for photography. to our event, photographing the presidents, part of our programming roster in support of our newest exhibition, not an ostrich. this exhibition tells the story of america through photography from the archives of the library of congress, many of which have never been exhibited. through these stories, we tell pieces of history, both well-known and less so. nothing has shaped america like the history of the president of the united states. tonight, we are so lucky to

welcome three photographers who have worked as official photographers at the white house for the past three administrations. they have been in the room where it happens and they have the photographs to prove it. we will hear from them what it was like working alongside the president during big moment sense all -- moments and small. joining us is a chief political correspondent for slate magazine and cbs news. he covers campaigns, elections, and national affairs. his work has appeared online and imprint at the new yorker, the washington post, the nation, and other publications. beach,rom virginia virginia, and attended the university of virginia, where he graduated with degrees in political and social thought and government. himse join me in welcoming and our photographers to the stage.

[applause] >> hello. thank you for coming out. i am going to introduce our .onderful panelists to my immediate right, sharon farmer, a professional photojournalist and exhibition photographer for 40 years, shooting news stories, cultural events, campaigns, and conferences, and portraits. most notably, she was the first african-american woman to be hired as white house photographer -- [applause] as well as the first african-american and first woman to become director of the white house photography office. [applause]

she served as director of the white house photography office , and as the white house photographer from 1993 document in the beginning of the clinton-gore administration. next to sharon is eric draper. [applause] eric served as president george w bush's chief at order for for the entire eight years of the bush presidency, photographing him daily during his activities at the office, abroad, and in his personal life. he was eventually named daschle assistant to the president -- special assistant to the president and the first white house photographer to be named a commissioned officer to the president. [applause] , eric alsotenure directed the photographic and archival conversion of the white

house photography office from film to digital. leastst but certainly not , lawrence jackson. [applause] certainly. certainly not. spent his career working as a virginia pilot for 10 years, covering sports and news before joining the associated press in boston in 2000. he transferred to the d.c. bureau in 2002 where he covered capitol hill, the white house, and major sports teams for seven more years. he became an009, official white house photographer for the obama administration, where he stayed until 2017. in march of 2017, he began a ,reelance photography business providing editorial, corporate,

and portrait photography. [applause] so, we have a lot of photos. before we get to those, i want to ask a general question of the panelist's. -- panelists. how you became white house photographers. if you could talk a little bit about how you got to that position. >> my parents always had a camera in the house. they got a picture of me, it was a miracle, because i could barely sit still in church. i played clarinet and bassoon. my mother would say you look lovely, let me get the camera.

when i sawc, but football, that's how i got started. what was the path from discovering the magic of the dark room to photographing the clinton-gore administration? and the fbiactivist recognizing that. because if you don't stand up for something, you are going to get done in by everything. [applause] clear that photography was an activist thing to do. we had demonstrations on the campus of ohio state because things were going on. we had less and 300 blacks out of -- students 40,000. we would get carted getting off the jitney bus. i started working for a black .tudent paper

i went on to be the editor, managing editor, and the photographer. so, we did all the things we were supposed to do to make it a democratic campus. that's what happened to me. the more you see injustice, the mmm.you go, thank heavens, the members of my sorority felt the same way i did . the white folks didn't like what was going on either. one thing does lead to another. when you are taking pictures and folks are telling you how well , by now, i am loose in the community. i am shooting everything in columbus, ohio. a wonderful photographer named valentine. he was known by one name -- valentine.

and he worked for everybody. babies and churches. i am like, babies and churches, ok. i did that too. the more i did, the better i got. then i discovered i liked all that stuff. it didn't matter what it was because it was photography. plus, you know taking pictures is fun. idea of working in the field and getting paid for it, i had died and gone to heaven. and i still played my music. my dining room was my music room. we got crazy in there. .e would jam and throwdown when you do stuff for good people, good things happen. share and, should the sunday school. sure. i shot this guys sunday school class.

weeks later, i have a great job. it pays $5,000 for the day. you don't know what you do until you do it. is the best thing we can do for each other. be kind. that's what happened. [applause] i did not think i had an fbi record when i started. i don't know, actually. my story began without knowing i would end up in the white house. i was a newspaper photographer in the photographer with the associated press for eight years , covering every story you could think of from campaigns to sports. ,he 2000 campaign rolls around and it began as an assignment. you are covering texas governor george w. bush. ok. but my desire to pursue the white house didn't start until

after the election. you might remember the recount. [laughter] i blame everything on the , because if the election had been decided that night, i don't think i would have ended up where i was. during the recount, i decided to per do that position. -- pursue the position. i had the opportunity to ask the president-elect for the job and i was invited to the christmas party in austin, texas. i made my direct pitch for the job. at the party, my wife was there, coaching on the sidelines when to make my move, and i walked up and said thank you for inviting us to the party, by the way, i went to be your personal photographer. he didn't blink. he looked at me like he had

never thought about it before. his chief of staff pretty much offered me the job on the spot. his first question was, can you manage question mark i said yes. i never had before. he told me working at the white house is like trying to drink water from a fire hose at full throttle, and he was right. i originally applied to be the chief photographer like these guys did. i did not get it. had my portfolio. he was named chief photographer and he called me up. to work forou want the administration? i was like, sure, and that was it. pretty simple.

was there anything in particular that prompted you to want to be -- i tell the story about the night i was covering bush at , andhite house for the ap barack obama beats john mccain for the presidency, and i go out to the lobby, and all these college kids are celebrating and chanting. there was an energy to the whole thing. i was transfixed by it. ands going home at night they said to myself, if i can work for this president, i am going to do it. i told my wife i was applying. i applied. it and then pete said i want you to work for me. it's funny because the job pays this much. i was like, how much? i had go back to my wife and say

look, this pays less than what i made at the ap, and she said i will get a job if you are taking this job, so if it weren't for my wife -- [applause] quite so, we're going to go the photos we have an chat about them, have some discussion. and after that, we will have some questions. -- i think you took this. >> i did. can you say what is happening in this photo? >> the helicopter pilots were land on theuns to south lawn, and they invited us to participate.

did 4, 5, maybe six touchdowns, kind of circled around the city, and this is what they see every time they come in for the approach of the landing. >> i am sure you took similar photos to this. >> not in the cut it. -- cockpit. >> it's interesting. i took the exact same photo probably about four years earlier. [laughter] it's an incredible view, one-of-a-kind. >> that one's mine. it's fun to try to figure out where to be before everybody starts. nobody tried to direct me what to do. i have to figure it out. i have to come up with the con position -- with the composition.

aroundways moving journalists, are photographers, and videographers i work with, and my crew. kenny and me were having a blast competing with each other taking pictures, and when you compete, you get better. turned down competition. if you ever want to see what you can do for yourself, compete with somebody. [laughter] again. mine we know we've got. the fun stuff about being a fly is you read the

papers the next day and they say something happened and you are like, they weren't even in the room. a picture is still worth a thousand words. i can tell you in a heartbeat what's going on. stuff is going on. i hear everything, but i don't keep it. of photo that says this is a serious meeting. serious, this photo was taken in march of 2003, at the time president bush decided to go to war in iraq. this photo was taken right after he made that decision, which was macon -- made in the situation room. i will never forget that day

because it was so intense leading up to that moment. i was standing outside the situation room waiting for the meeting to begin. the door comes open and ice he see his face. i his eyes were full of tears. iwanted to take a picture but had to jump out of the way or he would have collided with me. out of the oval office, didn't talk to anyone, walked the entire length of the south lawn with the dog, very emotional. i waited, and you could see the weight of the decision on his face. , are youid eric interested in history? i said yes, sir. he didn't speak to me every day. i didn't brief him. for him to talk to me. he said, the pictures you are taking are very important, the

ones in the situation room and the one here. dick cheney and donald rumsfeld came over and started discussing the timing of the war. it was very intense. shots,e fly on the wall i am curious to know the ,xperience of being invisible being in close proximity, watching and observing, knowing you have to document, but being unobtrusive. talk about the experience of being there. government. and the government is mighty. it takes care of a lot of issues not only in our country, but around the world. eating a fly on the wall means you don't want anybody -- being

a fly on the wall means you don't want anybody to respond to anything you do. . had a lot of gear i have choices of cameras, choices of lenses, two cameras , a wide lensk camera and a leica that says why can be solight as it that they cannot hear me move. i am a quiet mover. all that karate and took through the years paid off. i am stealthy. i moved ruefully. i don't break anything. smoothly. i don't break anything. i am concentrating on the yes, i am aause fly, a piece of the furniture. you are getting what nobody else time goes on,d as

everything is going to get seen. that's a fun about being a photographer. >> it's a unique role in the white house because everyone there to interact with the president, and our job is to be a professional observer, to disappear into the background if we can. sometimes, we are too close to the situation. wall can be annoying. i compare it more to furniture in the room where they trust your presence, and if you are not there, that rings more of an alarm. , just part of the job being there. sometimes nothing is happening and you are just trying to stay awake. and some days are intense. it depends on the situation.

>> the obamas are what we call in photojournalism. they are aware of the camera but they don't care about the camera . it helps make our job easier. held --see them being regardless of a camera being in the room. i can't remember the name of the interviewer, but he did an interview in the east room, and a fly landed on his shoulder, and he killed it. and he went on with the interview, and after the interview, he took out a tissue and picked up the fly. >> that is such an on the nose story about barack obama.

me, i wouldot told not have believed it. >> it was mrs. clinton's and we were going to the mansion for the celebration at the rose garden. it was a happy time. i was still pinching myself every day. remember, i am from health east -- southeast washington, d.c.. i was clear that me being there was an aberration. the fbi let me through and i was like, it must be a new day for real and government. the other presidents didn't but they time in d.c., clintons loves to go out and eat

and meet people, shake hands. i thought these people are different. it was so cool. >> so, i like to call this photo timing is everything. [laughter] week of taken the first the administration. we all know that president bush was very timely. he hated to be late. he wanted to be on time or early. this was an illustration of that. . got very lucky i literally race the camera right as it was happening, and luckily, no one was walking up the hall. >> that was a foreign leader

call. i could not tell you who the leaders were. whatever the issue is, he would come in and have people brief him on the topic, then take the call. i don't know why he had to serious look on his face, honestly. i can't remember. >> my guy has a serious look is all kinds of stuff is going on. rwanda. it was like, what next? advice,ould give him and i have the lenses for whatever i need, but i wait to shoot the shot. are readyt until you to shoot the shot, when you shoot the shot, it's too late. .ou are hunting you want your first shot to be the one.

because there is seriousness to what is going on. that's why the leica would come out. nobody even knows i was taking it. >> that was when the president decided to go for osama bin laden. morning.typical he was about to take off for a launch. i could tell there was a lot of energy in the room, and i felt that something was off. the president comes into the far, and i am about that away from him, and i take two shots. first.the the second, you can see them waving me out of the room.

that's happened before, no big deal. then that night, he goes on aaron says we got osama bin -- he goes on air and says we got osama bin laden. and i found out later that he decided to go. -- that is when he decided to go. >> we see presidents being very serious and somber, kind of whimsical with the clintons, and the photos of bush and cheney, canuestion for all of you, you talk about the emotional tone of being around the president. obviously, every day is not a serious a. every day is not a loose, lighthearted day.

and like all jobs, there are highs and lows. public has an idea of what it's like to be around the president, but sometimes, not much is going on. >> it is in office. it is an office of serious responsibility, and as a photographer, you are part of the documentation. charged with capturing everything, not just a little bit. even in the downtime, there is something going on with somebody else. another national security person, or mrs. clinton, or the secretary of state coming in to visit, there are things going on. and we have to have them.

otherwise, things get backed up. where are my photos? day and all my proof sheets were gone and there was a computer on my desk. i was like, what's this? they were like, it's your new computer. i don't want to computer. you have to have a computer. i bought them off for six months. where are my proof sheets? but it's about being behind. any time you come to work at 5:30 a.m. because you know you are behind, and you can trust your editors to do it, but i am the emotional part of what is being done and i have a little more insight that i don't even talk about. i know why some pictures are more important than others. pictures of people

with their tongue hanging out of their mouth. if you are blinking, if you are scratching your nose, i am not shooting that. part that's like, how many times is this guy going to pick his nose while he is talking to the president about what is over -- whatever is important? >> it's one of those things sore, you study someone for long, i mean, i studied president bush for eight years. and ld hear his voice know what was going on. i could study micro expressions. we had nonverbal communication of when i should be there, when i shouldn't be there. he was always on my radar even if he couldn't be. i would come out at certain times.

but some things are like an emotional roller coaster. one morning started out -- the morningse started out seriously because the president would evaluate the threat matrix, threats to the country. that's a serious document. .rom there, meetings with the a meeting elementary school teacher of the year or you go to the situation room for a crisis, it's really a roller coaster. that's what makes it really day.esting throughout the there is so much stuff going on. youeverything in front of is a story. with the president. but you look behind you, and there are stories. senior aides have

some of the same emotions. there are lots of stories going on. sometimes it's hard to just focus on the president because there is so much going on around you. it was like disneyland for photography, to be honest. every day, i could take a story to follow. there could be some anon he in the repetitiveness -- monotony in the repetitiveness, but all you have to do is have another cup of coffee, wake up, and there is another story to follow. president is in a good mood, you try to be in a good mood. -- somberumber and and focused on something, you try to follow that. and like he said, you go from the situation room to a little boy's visit and he matches the

tone of each meeting with the right words, the right everything. and that's tough. are trying to meet the needs of the situation all the time. >> next photo. >> this is the big meeting. we have lots of things going on. end, he smiled, and the rest of them were smiling, too. mood -- and the mood. this guy liked to have a good time. his mom liked to have a good time. mrs. clinton liked to have a good time. and then serious things would happen. he seriously tried to get health care passed. to getriously tried

countries to take in refugees. they were seriously worried but he would try to blow up mexico. and you would watch all this stuff. i would say, lord, and my partner would say, what is wrong with you? it's been a long day today. but it's ok. i knew i could handle it. handleld hear, can you it today? because you hear things no one else gets to hear. you see staff trying to get along. you have a big, huge, i call it fantail. and you have to decide which fans you want to stand on to make sure you get your picture.

and then you've got somebody going, i don't work for you. step back. and six months later he's gone. you are with somebody every day, getting up early to catch air force one, that's one thing. but the food is good. the camaraderie is wonderful. >> i think that was fairly early on in 2009. netink he had a meeting in -- with netanyahu. they were getting to know each other. trying to get their points .cross netanyahu is listening as the president is trying to make his

point. *in this when -- this is when they caught dylan oof, the young man who caught 9 -- who shot nine churchgoers. this is when they were waiting to make a statement to the press. >> sox the cat. he also had buddy the dog. if you come in at 8:00 in the morning, you are going with clinton all day. , youu come in at noon don't know where you are going. he liked to give tours. , and he tell you stuff

would do research on his own and tell you stuff about the house you didn't know. he is a wonderful guy with .verything i love dogs. i think everybody should be treated fairly. he is allergic to cats. but he would pick the kata. -- cat up. barney.dent bush with he called barney the son he never had. arnie is the one who bit the hand of a reporter one day -- barney is the one who bit the hand of a reporter one day. this was when the president allowed me to observe some of his personal time. later on, he started biking.

,t was just a personal moment just like any of us with our pets. bo.that's a evente about to do an with the first lady somewhere. i could not tell you where. my memory is shot. but bo was a great dog. was -- he had just said goodbye to a world leader and he was walking back into the oval office. >> how did you get up there? >> there is a staircase. >> really? [laughter] >> you never saw it? >> no, i did.

>> a question i have about the presidents with their pets, how much are you thinking about trying to humanize a president, not just capture them while they are working in the office, but with their pets, their families, to humanize them? them as full people and not just symbols of authority. a president with a dog is kind of a vulnerable photograph, not a position you see the world leader in. the kind ofs on photography we do. we are documentarians. what they do is what we shoot. , you aree dog together the photographer. if you miss that shot, you will kick yourself the rest of your life. you don't wait for permission. none of that.

thinking aboutus humanizing anybody. they are human. we see them every day. we see them when they are upset, and when somebody hasn't done what they were supposed to do and things are working. go, somebody is going to be in trouble. that's not good. we are not discriminating about anything. we are telling a visual story. what we see.nting we don't care if you're kissing the dog, none of that. we are the behind-the-scenes people. we are trying to show what real life is. .e are serious photojournalists documenting things that are inng to be in encyclopedias

a few years. all of this is going to stand the test of time in some ways. lord knows now with computers and how many images they hold, we can get overdone with images, but humanizing, all we are doing is taking their picture. >> we leave it up for everyone else to decide what it is. one of the things is establishing the relationship that allows you access to document those personal moment. you do not just open the door and say, on in. it takes time for them to warm up to you and to trustee it. that is part of the job. it is their decision to open their eyes. to have the opportunity to document the president as a

father, dog owner, son, texan. >> we ran all over d.c.. the fun part was when some guests would come. i had to crawl back to the van. some of the agents were in good shape. it was always fun because the president is jostling for position. it is a who. we had some of the best times. the guy is running? he is seriously running. it is very cool. >> that is transportation secretary.

-- whenhe things that people is always with the president, we had a hard time getting in. samantha and myself, so we tried to do other things, one of the things was to document the cabinet secretaries. , he wenticular trip across the country doing different types of events. i think we did maybe 7, 8 or nine of the secretary. and that is just one of those pictures. >> that is the final cabinet shot. we did it on the front lawn.

we have not tried the lawn out in front. this is our last shot together. it took time to get everybody's schedule together. then you have to deal with secret service come the guys to move the furniture. you have to talk to the gardener to make sure you will not step on the plants or anything, because you want to make everybody happy. i have to talk to everybody to make sure it is all on board. beside having them out there like that, we do mock stuff to make sure. teedo the oh days before, i had different staff come out and pretend to be one person or another to make sure this was going to work. it is fun trying to set stuff up. it is the front of the house come the back of the house, all

of these wonderful cabinet people. look at them. men and women. it is cabinet. this is the cabinet. go in there. it is the last shot. this is stuff that goes on. making sure that they got it right, so i shot in color and black-and-white. >> any particular reason? >> i am a black and white girl. taken theoto was first day of the administration, january 20, 2001. george w. bush sitting down at the oval office for the first time. what i like about this picture

is you have several layers here. you have that personal moment, the proud father watching his son. he loved the history of two president together. they -- there is a story behind the story. the cord coming from the wall? that was a massage chair. i do not know who left it there. but that is what is leading to the laughter at that moment. the chair was gone the next morning. [laughter] >> this is the second inauguration. address.st given his

taking a couple steps back to look at the crowd one lifetime. it is one of my favorite photos -- my is taking it all in favorite photos. he is taking it all in one last time. this is 9/11. i was with president bush at the elementary school in florida that morning. what is interesting here, you see the time on the clock. this is about 9:25. i did not know exactly what was happening until i walked into the room to see live pictures of the burning towers. i was waiting for president bush to stop the television. everyone was shocked, seeing that horrific image. bartlett, who is pointing in that photo is actually alerting

everyone in the room because we are seeing the first replay of the second tower getting hit. thiser frame right after when the president turns to see that horrific image. with president bush the entire day on the airplane. this picture was taken as we approached andrews air force base. this was after spending all day on the airplane. louisiana, in nebraska. as we approached andrews air force base, we noticed the fire jets -- fighter jets out the window. we have not seen them. shocking thingis to see the fighter jets nearly touching the wings of air force one.

out of the right side of the plane, you can see the pentagon still smoldering. it was very shocking as we approached. week, to me, 9/11 seems like a long day. this is a day that president bush for ground zero. the president stood on the rubble and the retired firefighter with him was there to mark the spot for him to stand. you said you stand there with me. the moment was purely organic. it was powerful when it happened. moment feel this building. the firefighters are crying with them. is day the awt -- this four. they wanted him to do something.

that is when he came through of i can hearline you, the people can hear you. the same day, after the bullhorn moment, such an emotional roller coaster that day. this was one of the most difficult situations i had to photograph and. this is the president walking into a room full of family members that were waiting to find out if there -- about their loved ones that were missing. was being lost every second because no one was being found alive. there were children walking around with handwritten signs of have you seen my father or mother? hoursesident's rent three hugging and crying with every single one of them. it was very powerful. >> if you would like to talk

about it at all, how did you coming yourself deal with the experience of all that emotion and pain? it was tough. i was hiding my tears with my camera. it was such a sad situation. i was confronted by a few of my family members -- the family members who did not know while it was there with a camera. that frame there, i knew i had something. i walked out and gave them some privacy because it was so intense. did you have similar experiences? >> it was a weekend. president fenton, it was about a half day going down and he was on the lawn with his golf club.

one of the guys come out to tell him what had happened. the look on his face? i did not know what it was, but he was sad as could be. he went from a happy-go-lucky golfer too upset. harold told him what had occurred. it was bad. he cried because we were so close to getting peace in the middle east. the stuff that happened there disrupted everybody and everything. i cannot imagine being a kid over there and hearing all that more stuff going on every day of your life. there was hope for getting to the next phase, and now we are not going to have peace. the people who make money off of war do not want war over.

we are not getting what we want. it matters that somebody understands that war is not good for things that grow, and that ,ncludes people, grass, cows cats and dogs. we have problems with our priorities being about money and not peace. we need peace in the world. war, these years of are the things that have been going on. do i watch tv? no. i cannot deal with the fantasy world of television when the real stuff is happening to all of us, our friends and family. pictures tell that story. i love documentaries. put my nose in economical, trying to understand what is going on with the business of economics, why am i looking at an economics book are

smart i know how to add and substitute -- subtract. if you do not go, you do not have a nickel or a quarter. >> when there is an intense moment, the usually do not see the photographer. this is a quiet moment. this is the king family. this is in 2002. they are holding the plans for the mlk memorial. typically, my routine for meetings was that i would photograph the people coming in, depending on the nature of the meeting. i was walking out of the room, just as the door was closing, i .eard bernice

she said mr. president, will you pray with us. i did a 180 and was able to get a shot of the prayer. >> this was the daughter of was killed ino texas. the legislature would not pass. she had been to see everybody in the state of texas. nobody would deal with what she was saying. was -- she washe there to greet us. she cried and cried. it was one of the most emotional things i ever experienced. just see him -- just seeing him .ith his eyes watering up the things that we do to each other, we look for somebody to

help us out of a bad situation that we are in. it is not coming fast enough. there are so many more james byrds. we have so far to go. photographers documenting this kind of stuff, we are on the front line of what is working and what is not working. what do we do next? we keep digging. we keep saying that we can do better. it throughdo photography to show you that it is that bad. god bless all the cell phone cameras in america. god bless them because otherwise we would be even -- we would see even more james byrds. that is what makes that picture so sad. the supreme court decision came down that morning. a guy named jeff taylor had this

concept a day or two before this. everyone ran with it. it was a really beautiful night. i was out there, actually. listening to how the plane fell out of the sky in croatia. the military is trying to take way what happened. i got to hear all of that. human beings are special. when you lose a special one because of something you hope would not happen but it happens? all the explaining in the world does not take away the pain of the loss. he was a great guy. i remember him before he got involved with politics like this. he is there one day and now he is not coming back.

it is a hard thing. no explanation will take away the pain of what happened. this was deep. difficult to get them together. the king of jordan and president clinton invited to get together. let's go to lunch together. everybody sat down and got some food. then, the king of jordan and president clinton get up. they leave them in the room by themselves. the security was having a fit. president clinton is pushing them out of the room. everybody laughed.

president clinton turned to the secret service and said nobody goes and, they do not go out. i love this. i thought i'd died and gone to heaven. .he president of the u.s. heart ofone from the people who work on this stuff. we are at a rally in donna. i am on a huge pedestal in front of them. i got other photographers with me. i turned around and saw the crowd still coming. all you could see was clouds of dust because people were still coming. a magic moment in my time because never in my day would i have ever thought i would be at something like this.

it was the beginning of my whole world. ohio state got me ready for all of this because what you do on campus come you could do better in real life if you learn the lessons they were trying to teach you. i learned the lessons. >> the 50th anniversary. it was great. it was a great speech. .ust the energy the foot soldiers to the right and john lewis, just the history of that moment, speechless. appeared onstage, praying. the president of china came.

we had a big ceremonial thing. they started the dialogue. the first ladies are always talking to each other from each of the countries in them a guys are talking to each other. each one has their own interpreter. you are not missing anything about what is being said. i said well, look at this. the delany sisters. sharp as a tack. they did yoga every day. they had a huge jar of garlic. we had to go to new york for another event. mrs. clinton -- mrs. clinton wanted to meet the delany sisters. we did. iron one of them say look. it is a colored photographer.

how are you? >> that was the first lady getting prepared for a commencement address to the class of virginia tech. she always prepared. she would go over her speech a dozen times before giving it. that is just going over the notes before giving the speech. we had a system in our office. was the first lady's photographer. pete liked us to rotate. every third week i would cover the first lady. trips tone of her london. her big initiative was always

girls. the h -- she is in chief, sohugger she hugs everybody. is the transition meeting that happens after every election. president-elect obama meeting with president bush for the first time. this was right after the election in 2008. i had to make this picture with the remote camera mounted on the mantle of the fireplace. the iv creeping in. i was trying to hide the camera. i did it more as a backup. they only allowed me in the room. they really wanted to get down

to business. they were looking at me like are you done yet? luckily, i had that camera as a backup. made twowalking out, i frames of them talking as the door closed. >> we are in the mansion in the middle of the day. he has been told by a couple people that stuff is brewing overseas. imagine watching 10 pots of soup bowling -- boiling at the same time. he is listening to what it is. trying to decide what the next step on it is. it takes a lot of strength as a of theto understand all destruction that is happening from place to place. you are trying to fix it from

place to place. all these pieces have to come together to make it work. then you have to pray that the people on the other side, from another country get it. can we pull this together in the same direction? we are going to have wars. here we go. what are we going to do about this situation? it is a day by day every day. person forthe police the world because nobody else will send people to do things to be helpful. even in natural disasters. a lot of other countries do not. not having the resources, not knowing how to do it. how do you do it starts with him. i get it. tired ofoint, you get clean frames. i was shooting stuff.

i would be around the corner somewhere, getting that one too. you wanted to be exciting photography, not boring photography. i like to shoot between stuff. >> getting the two of them together in a situation where they have the time to do it. sitting for a portrait at camp david. i wanted to get their faces together because they look so alike. years, to haveht that as part of the story come the history of his father being president. they have a very traditional relationship. andfather would stop by talk about baseball mostly.

never seemed like he gave him any advice or anything. i was able to capture this in 2007. >> they were joking around before this as well, making funny faces. this is president bush the texan at the white house in crawford texas. the only place he could drive his own truck. rome --600 acres to roam. this really captures his personality. he has that twinkle in his eyes.

he is a texan at heart. in chargehere he was before going back to washington. presidency the follows the president everywhere. assets.people, the there is a mini white house wherever the president goes, including the ranch. the timing of the photo is interesting as well. this is a month before 9/11. i see his sense of innocence before the world changed. photo in thee last slideshow. [applause] >> we are going to have a q&a and there will be people with microphones on the side or over here.

>> this brings us to the q&a portion of the evening. if you have a question, please raise your hand. pleaserecording this, so speak clearly into the microphone. our first question right up front. >> did you guys have much of a life while you were working? are these photos yours? >> we had no life, none of us. the photos belong to american people. this was on the taxpayer's dollar. this is our history. i could not keep a dinner date for anything. if people invited me to do something, i could say maybe and then not show up ever. when i could show up at something, i could go home. i always showed up with something.

couldd say, i'm sorry i come to this other thing, but i'm here today. some people cannot stay in touch with their friends. he had made a new life for themselves in d.c.. my life is in d.c., my work is in d.c., my family is in d.c.. i have the best of all worlds. i made friends at the white house. the next best part was traveling across the country and calling up my college buddies and saying we are coming to town. >> my life was the president's schedule. what you learn is, you kind of in-depth following his patterns. you eat what he needs, you sleep when he sleeps. it is really tough. like dog years because a lot happens within one day. me, i am married, and

i was still married up a time. my wife worked in the white house for three of the years, so that helped me a lot. >> i had a life. pete did a lot of the heavy lifting. on weekends, i would work sometimes. we had a system where every third week, you knew you were not going to be working nights or weekends. >> we have a question to the front. >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen harriet -- and gentlemen. two questions. this is the first time you guys have given this presentation? and are you going to take it to other places? please come to d.c. >> this is the first time we sat

on a panel together and i'm happy to do it again. [applause] >> i'm sure you can find another moderator. >> no, the whole package. [laughter] question is to the far left. >> i can't see. >> just a two-part question related to technology and taking photographs, first part to sharon, second part to lauren. sharon, can you talk a little bit more about what it was like to transition from film to digital and what that did to your timeline? and your flow and your process? and lauren, maybe to the three of you, are you ever concerned andt wearable cameras perpetual presence of cameras taking future photographers jobs away from them in your role? >> you're only as good as the

last shot you did, and its competitive. part of the deal with being a photographer who is document stuff is to do the best job. >> you can't worry about other photographers. you have to worry about doing your jobs. if you do a good, you're going to be there. if you start messing up, maybe not. the more cameras, honestly, i think it's better. my camera, i would -- i'm dying, not use my phone camera. >> is not a camera. i wouldn't use it. >> i broke my camera when i came out here. i'm still sad about it. and i've seen some pictures and i brought my cell phone up going, i should have got my camera before i left. when i go home tomorrow, what am i going to do?

i'm going to be at the camera shop. the computer thing with the cameras, we had a lab out of andrews air force base and the lab would do our processing. they come three or four times a day in a truck with a metal case, official military people coming in and get our stuff. we marked our bags with what the date is. crewor five hours later, chief would come back. we start going to the computer and communications people decided we will get you these other cameras and get the pictures sooner. we got our hands full, but ok. now we have a camera that weighs more than two of our cameras around her neck, and is not a full frame camera so you can't see the nuance of what you are shooting. it was frustrating. what was more frustrating was having time to think. the first think about looking at proof sheets, you can't think while you are looking. the computer screen, you're like, what?

it's not in focus? oh, that's the screen. oh, i don't need these kinds of heart attacks. oh, no. by the time we left, we were switching over. literally put everything on discs. the coding wasn't good. you know how you figure out the silver or gold coating? it didn't hang, it didn't stay. now i have to go to another company to do it again. i don't like doing stuff twice and we're running out of time as we are getting out of the office, too. i told the lab don't make anything that is turning our stuff from negatives into discs. but now the computer, i'm a computer geek i guess, kinda. i'm still reluctant. >> well, after sharon left

office, we -- i used the film andess, you know the lab, it was during my time that the transition happened. that directed the white house from film to digital. and that was a huge job because of the volume that happened in the white house. you all know thousands of photos a day with the whole staff to design a workflow and a system to handle the digital files and unfortunately, we had to decommission the lab and bring a lot of those positions internal inside the white house. and then also using digital cameras was another change for because, was a turnoff i'm mean i love using the galactic camera, that was the best tool for me in the white house. all the stuff on 9/11 was a leica.

and then switching to the digital camera, that was bulky, heavy, and noisy. i had to change my style of shooting because of the noise. unfortunately, the digital cameras were not quiet when they first came out. the first full frame camera canon came out with, that was when i decided to make the switch. it was a struggle, but it was something that had to be done in terms of keeping up with the technology and also it was where everything was headed. luckily i had the experience coming from the associated press, using digital photography and applying my skills to turn the white house into digital. you're talkingy about wearable technology and how things are changing, technology has been changing forever. you can put a camera in someone's hand who is not a photographer and its crap.

but if you put someone's hands that is counted, you will get something compelling. some of these cameras are meritless, so the -- mirror lists, so they're company silent. i would love to get back in the white house now. they would never know. >> thanks for your wonderful presentation. are any of you in contact with current white house photographers? and what do they say what the heck is going on? [laughter] >> what do you mean, what do they say? shedding craig is a good friend of ours. she's the chief photographer and she does a good job. she's just doing her job. [laughter] i mean, honestly. [laughter] >> i couldn't tell you. >> we talked a little bit about this before the event.

i had asked you about this, lawrence, about how this style of photography is so different. she's just doing her job. that's obviously what the president wants. i would be curious to see what you all think. your photography feels journalistic. the photos coming from the white house, they're not as candid. >> they're posed. >> they're posed. they seem to show the president with a figure of authority. they are not communicating the same presidency at work, at life, as your work does. >> this is why pictures are still worth a thousand words. and she's going to be all right. she's just got to work it out. it takes time. everybody is not the same kind of subject when they become president of the united states and it takes time to flesh it out. as people get more comfortable

about who they are working with, i was scared for more than a year. i wouldn't say anything. one day, they said, she speaks! [laughter] myself i still piss every day i came in that place. where am i going? and i hanging out with the girls and the guys? going to work? oh, boy. when you realize the magnitude of what you overcome as a kid and your parents have been wonderfully helpful and pushed you to do the things that are all correct. and here you are here trying to run the world in a good way and you're like, that eight the way -- ain't the way to run the world. but i'm from the southeast. you look at somebody who reads mad magazine, ok? [laughter] comic books. i need another way of looking at things. the more information about

better. give the other photographer a chance. we don't get to go out like we did before. she's busy. girl, that hasn't happened yet. >> i'm sorry. understand that the pictures they're showing, releasing, you're not seeing all the pictures they are taking. this is what they are pushing for. >> that was what i was going to say. we don't know what going on inside. she may have amazing images sitting in the archives waiting to be shown at some point. and we may see those when everything is over. we just don't know. time will tell. >> our next question is at the center right. >> thank you all for being here. i loved what you said about studying these men as presidents.

we were implicitly talking about this, but if you could synthesize what you learned about each of these presidents and who they are as people as you are photographing them. >> great question. you know, you learn a lot. you learn about leadership, especially in a time of crisis. you learn that, about discipline, and president bush was very disciplined. he, like i said, schedule was very tight. he made sure he put exercise in his schedule every day. it was very important to him. and if anything creeped into that time, he was very very upset. everyone looked up to the president for leadership. job ofdid a great leading our country through some really tough times.

>> chair? >> what can i say? my guy. [laughter] my guy. >> for me, watching president obama, it was always a lesson because he was so compassionate with people. and he gave himself to a lot of people. when people met him, i saw it a thousand times, they were skeptical of him. but once they met him and talks to him, they felt like they were being listened to and heard and came away with a positive impression of them. so just how to treat people with respect and kindness. >> president clinton was late all the time. [laughter] because he talked to everybody. and even if they put up barriers to direct him how to get to the line quickly, he'd lose the barrier and step over it. they would say, we're 15 minutes behind, 30 minutes behind, 45

minutes behind, and this guy is doing his thing. keep moving, keep moving. what you say? he disagreed because of what? if you disagreed with them, he wants to really understand why. he talks a lot. ass clinton turned into talker when she started running for office, too. he finished his line, she hadn't finished hers. when you meet people, you have to take the time with them. there's a ton of us that blow people off as we think they're not important. each and everyone of us are important and for the president of the united states to talk to you, he's telling you you're all important and i want to know what you are thinking. and if you disagree, i really want to know why. i'm hearing him give scenarios and listen to people give scenarios back. unbelievable.

question to the center-right. thanks so much for being here today. i think lawrence is shaking his head because i'm his knees. -- neice. [laughter] just hearing each of you talk about your experience in the white house, it was a highlight of your career is an understatement. i'm curious about how you went about thinking of what your step -- next step was and what you want to see out of your next role and if he could match how meaningful and significant your job in the white house was. >> after leaving the white house? >> yes, after leaving the white house. >> it's a tough act to follow. we talked about this. for me personally, i still want to take pictures. it's what i've always done and what i love to do. if i'm taking pictures of a college basketball game or corporate event, i'm happy

taking pictures. is not at the level of covering president obama, but it's still real emotions and still doing some nice work for organizations. but there are real emotions and moments in that, and i enjoy that. >> everything's a letdown. no. [laughter] just like lawrence said, it really is tough to experience the same level of intensity and importance and travel and it's one of those things, too, once it's over it's over. it's like cinderella, the clock strikes midnight and you are behind the gate and you can't get in anymore. your life starts over. its almost like leaving high school. i'veike lawrence said, always been a photographer and i will continue to work on stories and i love politics, and i will

continue to do what i've always loved do no matter what the story is. and so, yeah. >> i'm lucky. i got great, wonderful clients around d.c. a lot of them are nonprofits. whatever the mission is that they are doing, that's who i want to do my work with. i'm a part of a group of 40 plus photographers called the exposure group, and we meet once a month doing the art and business of photography so we can keep the next generation coming. pictures is a wonderful way to editor, ofng, be an processing computer was, all this stuff leads to other stuff. and its creative. photography stays creative. that's my joy. the other thing is, i keep meeting new people. i do not stay home.

i don't watch tv. people are my jews. everybody -- people are my juice. everybody brings something. you let me shoot it, i'm telling you a story because you let me, and i get to meet new people. is just a wonderful way for me to live my life. i still play music. i still mess around, goof around. i'm still with my neighbors, my friends. i'm lucky. i've got everything one could want after doing the white house. steady money coming in, happy life. pets who love me. it's about love in the house. so and then the neighbors, what can i say? good neighbors make good friends. and it takes time for that. you get new people coming in. hi, neighbor, welcome. welcome people to the hood. there, nobodyver

wanted to live over there. now everybody wants to live over there. [laughter] >> our next question is in the far back center. so, you both being photojournalists with the associated press and then moving into a white house position, there's a little inside baseball. sorry, i'm l.a. times photographer so i can ask. and i worked in d.c. with all these guys, so. there's a little bit of controversy within the journalism world, with the idea of access to media photographers covering the white house. having done it, it's a tight space. we can't get everybody in all the time. being chief photographer, did you have a role in any of those? i don't know if you have any

controversies with obama were there were more photos handed out, and it lawrence, i'm actually curious about what his role was in having control. talk about that a little bit. is a multipronged question. about the humanizing when you are shooting your subject, the president, in that humanizing them. it may not be your objective while you are shooting but clearly, when the photo is released, its publicity. so we know it there's some role that medication office place. but as a photographer, where you were a photojournalist, you're doing news, these are the photos. when you were at the white house in doing these photos, do you have any input? the you say i have great shots of them smiling? how does that go in your daily

job? or is it all done by kitty tatian's? -- by communications? start mcneilly, bless his -- his heart. communications people muck it up. that's what happens. the eye of the person you hire to do the job. bob trusted us. he knew what we could do. and we knew what we could do. you talk about confidence about what we could he done. -- could get done. of a bade example photographer. she could shoot like crazy, get stuff done, tell stories. i mean, she was heroin to me in the photography world.

it was how the other people act around you, you have to make sure you don't act like them. you have to keep yourself grounded. look in the mirror and go, in my doing the right thing? and let people make fun of you so you know you're grounded. if they're messing with you, your're human. >> good question. in my time with digital photography becoming so prevalent, and the internet andoding, 24 hour cable, the demand for images became great, where my office was always being hounded for images, and i was always a part of the process in terms of generating selections for photos to be released. but that decision was made, final decision was made by the committee geisha's office. and they would decide -- communications office. and they would decide on photos. sometimes i would argue with

them that i thought some photos were better than others, but they would look at them with different eyes. sometimes it's with overly political eyes. that's just the nature of the business. gettinge where you're at in terms of photo releases and what it meant for access with the other photographers, media photographers, and we received the same criticism because we released more photos in the clinton administration, and i'm sure the obama administration released more photos than us. but that doesn't necessarily ofal less openness in terms allowing photographers to come in. but we received the same criticism. but it's just the nature of the time. of just like the evolution the white house, now, everyone

just expects the next administration to do just the same thing. but they're not. that's why everyone is kind of surprised. they're different. everyone has a different mindset and everyone uses the technology differently. i don't know if that answers your question. >> pretty much what eric said, but i'll just add a little bit. the explosion of social media during the obama administration, the pictures fed so much of that to social media. flickr facebook, you had , instagram. all that stuff needed content and that content was produced by photographers in the photo office. in terms of access to the media, i really think that the communications office realized they could reach their target

audience by going around newspapers for magazines and going directly to. and that was a choice. you had the first president do an interview between two ferns. [laughter] that was hugely, hugely popular and successful. i used to be ap, eric used to be ap. you know the power of newspapers. at that time, there were just going another direction. and i don't think he had that much -- i don't think he was opposed to it, but i don't think he had much say in terms of who was going to cover the president. >> we were a little bit more flexible. we would bring in a newsweek photographer or time magazine for a day or so, or somebody from the new york times which otto one of the photographers -- would shadow one of the photographers.

you could take pictures of anything you want to. diane from time magazine, diane walker, she'd come. when you do suffer like that, they know the rules. when they tell you you got to go because stuff is getting sensitive, you got to go. so part of the deal about being a white house photographer was, you get to cover what we cover, see what we see. but when we say it's time to go, you got to go. we had a nice pool of photographers. because of money issues for all these companies that do the public stuff, they are always shareholders. there will be more now than they were about content. they don't care about content, they care about shareholders. i watched film crews go from five or six. now they pool their cameras. wherever they should their tape, everybody shares the same thing.

they began to lose their work working for washington post or newsweek or the wire services because they were not giving the axis. -- access. when i was working at associated dress, i was -- associated press, i was a photo editor. we saw everything. that you find out some people are not allowed to shoot some stuff. i'm getting a phone call saying, now you're telling me where to put my cameras up to our eyes. excuse me? they're telling you what? >they are telling us to leave or cameras on the ground until we can put them up. keep talking, negotiate. what do i do? i said if you take a picture, i'll be happy. to take a picture no matter what. well, ok. people to actors anyway.

it started a fight between press handlers, everybody. people from the press office trying to tell people when to be creative. you know that ain't right. [laughter] >> one last question to the far right in the front. >> thank you very much. i was very interested in the photo that eric, you took with president bush and resident elect obama with the remote control, and i was curious what the rules of the game are with a that, if any -- with that, if any. can you shoot remote anywhere? it's one thing you are in the room if they know you are in the room. and as technology changes, maybe more so with you lawrence, if you had similar advances the technology that lets you shoot more remote, more hidden, in a sense that they didn't know you were there.

so i'm curious about the advanced preparation that thinks about i'm going to put it here above the fireplace and what security issues may be involved, as well. >> in that situation, i asked president bush if i could put a camera above the mantle. actually, i didn't ask. the true story was -- [laughter] the staff and they were like, yeah, go ahead. [laughter] so i showed up at 5:00 in the morning and i put it there, but i had to get the president's blessing. he walks in at 7:00 in the morning, he looks up and goes, what the hell is that? they all look at me. i said that's for your meeting with the president-elect. it takes about it for a second and goes, let's make sure we clear it with the president-elect because we don't want him to think we are trying

to spy on him. but yeah, it was all his blessing for me to do that. or else it wouldn't be there. >> so you said what the rules are, in the rules are if the president approves it, that's the role? -- rule? >> yeah. [laughter] >> nobody can bother you if it's ok for them. >> that's all the time we have tonight so please give our speakers and moderator a round of applause. [applause] and this is not a canned question at all but lawrence, where can people find you? >> on instagram? >> yes. >> jack images. >> perfect. and eric? >> photog. >> sharon? fphotoworks@att.net.

>> jamel? >> i do have an instagram, actually. >> thank you everyone for coming out. [applause] make sure you get your parking validated if you haven't already done so at the front desk. have a good evening. >> good job. >> that went really well. >> thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] wenext on the presidency, hear from a panel of experts on the design of the white house and what changes, if any, the future may hold. the panel includes people from the united