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Photographer counters Donald Trump with Obama-pictures

To Donald trump to denounce policy, disseminated by Pete Souza in the social media pictures of Barack Obama. Now the image band of the official photographers of the White house under Obama, and Ronald Reagan appears.



In the Instagram age, a photo tells, in combination with a pair of Hashtags are often a whole story. Pete Souza, a photographer in the White house during the eight years in office, President Barack Obama, knows this only too well. The man, the Obama, the whole world was accompanied by, and exclusive access to the 44. The President of the United States, has become a master of the conjunction of image and Text.

20. January 2017, he switched his official Instagram Account, which documented the life of the President. Since then, he has released under his own name photographs from his time with Obama. His images accompanied by short sentences or comments that allude to political events under the current US President Donald Trump.

Without the new man in the Oval Office ever, explicitly in the name, uses, Souza’s captions on his Instagram profile, to comment on current U.S. policy.

Pete Souza in the rose garden of the White house in 2013

Active Trump Critics: Pete Souza

With his subtle, scathing nature of the criticism, throwing in the anglo-American space, “throwing shade” (English: shadow), or simply “shade” is called, he has already been able to win more than two million Followers.

16. October 2018 appears to be his latest book, “Throwing Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents”. In it, he combined a selection from the more than two million photos that he shot of Obama during his term in office, with short texts, headlines, and Tweets from and about Donald Trump, which serve as image signatures, the contrast between the two presidents highlighted.

On platforms such as Instagram Souza expresses again and again the criticism of the Trump government

On the occasion of the recent hearing of Brett Kavanaugh Trumps controversial candidate for the office of judge in the Supreme Court – in front of the US Senate, posted Souza a picture of Obama with his then-nominee Elena Kagan. In addition, he wrote, in effect: “your nomination was before the Senate in a fight.”

Concern for democracy

Also on the short-messaging service Twitter Souza is active. Here, too, he comments on current political Events. He takes, for example, with respect to the beginning of November in the United States to be held in the “Midterm Elections”. In this in-between elections, seats in the Senate and house of representatives are up for election. In addition, the governors and parliaments of most of US selected States. After Kavanaugh was confirmed in spite of the serious allegations made against him, as a judge of the Supreme Court, called Souza under the Hashtag #VoteThemOut to its supporters in the ranks of the Republican members of Congress in November.

Also, under a Hashtag, namely, #ThrowShadeThenVote, Souza is currently in New York. He asserted that he wanted to help with his political commitment, not a specific party. He was rather worried about the future of democracy.

Souza was already under the Republican Ronald Reagan as the official photographer. Later, he documented as a freelance photographer, among other things, the refugee crisis in Kosovo in the late 1990s, and the capture of the Afghan capital Kabul by NATO forces in the autumn of 2001.

New image band: “Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents”

In addition to numerous picture books from his time with Obama Souza has also published a selection of his work from the Reagan Era, in two volumes. But even before “Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents” in the book of acts, it should be clear: It is storming like none of Souza’s books before the bestseller lists. Because the photographer has not only established a loyal fan base, especially in the social networks, but also an innovative and mind-rich Format created, in the words as much meaning as the image itself.

Through the juxtaposition of the two presidents plays Souza, without a doubt, with nostalgia, a feeling that in this case, as misleading as it is necessary. The British psychiatrist and philosopher Neel Burton wrote in his book “Heaven and Hell: The Psychology of Emotions”, that could be argued, nostalgia would distort the perception of the past and idealize. Already the ancient Romans had a term for what psychologists today call “rosy retrospection”, a glorified view of the past.

Nostalgia makes you optimistic

The Obama on the cover of Souza’s new book is not a pink red, but a red-white-and-blue fins sunglasses. Nevertheless, the book could move with his nostalgic appeal to the readers to see Obama’s presidency, precisely through these “rose-colored glasses”. A critical consideration would be on the track.

This game with nostalgic feelings may sound reprehensible, but it can also have a positive effect. In 2013 in the “Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin” has published a study on personality and social psychology, researchers found that nostalgia can lead to a kind of optimism about the Future, because people feel more socially connected with others. Souza’s critical posts in the social media and his new book could achieve a similar effect – and the much-needed optimism back.

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