“From Pete Souza, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Obama: An Intimate Portrait, comes a potent commentary on the Presidency — and our country.

As Chief Official White House Photographer, Pete Souza spent more time alongside President Barack Obama than almost anyone else. His years photographing the President gave him an intimate behind-the-scenes view of the unique gravity of the Office of the Presidency — and the tremendous responsibility that comes with it. 

Now, as a concerned citizen observing the Trump administration, he is standing up and speaking out. Shade is a portrait in Presidential contrasts, telling the tale of the Obama and Trump administrations through a series of visual juxtapositions. Here, more than one hundred of Souza’s unforgettable images of President Obama deliver new power and meaning when framed by the tweets, news headlines, and quotes that defined the first 500 days of the Trump White House. 

What began with Souza’s Instagram posts soon after President Trump’s inauguration in January 2017 has become a potent commentary on the state of the Presidency, and our country. Some call this “throwing shade.” Souza calls it telling the truth. 

In Shade, Souza’s photographs are more than a rejoinder to the chaos, abuses of power, and destructive policies that now define our nation’s highest office. They are a reminder of a President we could believe in, and a courageous defense of American values.”

[Text from publisher’s website]

This makes us realize how great it is NOT to “hear” Trump’s tweets anymore. Shades is a great coffee-table book made mostly of pictures taken during Obama’s presidency with short captions contrasting the subject of the photo with some stupid comment or action from Trump that day (or the day before) and that Souza posted on his Instagram account. Putting a picture on the internet is great fun, but publishing it in a picture book really immortalized it for posterity. It is a quick read, but you can admire the pictures as long as you want. That’s a great book.

Shades: A Tale of Two Presidents, by Pete Souza. New York: Little, Brown & Co, October 2018. 240 pg., Hardcover, 7 x 9.25 in., $12.99 US / $16.99 Can. ISBN: 978-0-316-42182-9.

For more information you can check the following websites:

[ Amazon • Goodreads • Google • Nelligan • Wikipedia • WorldCat ]

© 2018 by Pete Souza