Former White House photographer Pete Souza is sharing his photos and stories from his work across Peoria this week. Souza was the featured speaker at Bradley University's Voices and Visionaries event Tuesday evening, showing photos and telling stories from his work with the Reagan administration and as Chief White House photographer for President Barack Obama.
Souza shared stories and some of his favorite photos to a crowd of about 700 at Bradley's Renaissance Coliseum and will also be at the Peoria Riverfront Museum this Sunday. He will speak about his photos at the 1986 Reykjavik summit between President Reagan and then-Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. Souza's talk will come after a screening of the biopic The Brink of War, based on that summit. Souza will share his photos and first-hand accounts.
"That was a highlight of my career. That entire summit, especially the way it ended, I felt like I was photographing the Cold War," said Souza.
Souza shared a bit about his career, including his start at small newspapers in Kansas. He started at a Kansas paper as the sole photographer at a paper with a circulation of 6000, to the Chicago Sun-Times where he was one of 20 photographers at a paper with a circulation of 600,000.
Souza served as a staff photographer for the Reagan White House, but after returning to newspaper work, became linked with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.
"I was stationed in Washington D.C. and we pitched an idea about following then-Sen. Obama in his first years in the Senate," said Souza.
Souza said after Obama became President, Souza received the call to return to the White House and become the chief photographer for the Obama administration. Now retired from full-time work, Souza has photos in many galleries, including locally at the Dirksen Congressional Center in Pekin and at the Obama Presidential Library in Chicago.
Aside from occasional speeches and presentations, Souza says his favorite subjects are his granddaughters, who he photographs almost daily, something he says brings him great joy.
