As the Obamas prepare to move out of the White House this week, Chief White House photographer, Pete Souza, has taken to Instagram to share his favourite moments from the eight years he spent by their side.
Pete has taken as many as 2,000 pictures a day of Obama – some of which record spectacular events in US history, while others simply capture brief moments of the President as a regular man, stripped of the weighty title.
On Tuesday, Pete shared three never-before-seen pictures of Obama as he frolicked happily in the snow with his daughters, Malia and Sasha, after a blizzard hit Washington, D.C., in 2010.
And what he’s captured forever is really something special.
One of the photographs, which will no doubt go down in history, captures the moment Sasha and Malia destroyed Obama, then aged 47, in a friendly snowball fight.
Another, shows the three beaming with smiles as they lie down in the fluffy white snow to create angels in their likeness.
Pete explained on Instagram, “People are always asking me to choose my favorite picture of the President. But I just can’t do it. So let me tell you about my favorite day.”
He continued, “It was a Saturday in February 2010. Washington was under siege with snow. I slept in my office overnight, knowing I probably couldn’t drive to the White House the next day.”
“And then I guessed…and yes, hoped…that the President of the United States would be a dad and play with his girls in the snow.”
Pete recently spoke with CBS News about the eight years he has spent by Obama’s side. He said, “One of the things that I’m just trying to do is show him not just as a president but as a human being. What’s he like as a man?”
We can’t wait to see what’s in store for this beautiful family now that they’re (almost) out of office!
