Behind the Lens: Around the World in Nine Days
By Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer
We returned early Monday morning from a grueling trip to Turkey, the Philippines, and Malaysia — literally an around-the-world journey.
The President attended four summit meetings with world leaders — some with multiple sessions and participated in several bilateral meetings with individual heads of states. He also gave several speeches, visited a refugee foundation center, and answered questions at multiple press conferences.
My access to the summit meetings depended on the hard work of our advance teams as well as the rules set by the host country. In a nutshell, my access in Turkey was great; in the Philippines, good; and in Malaysia, poor.
In Turkey, at the G20 Summit, the meetings themselves were fairly scripted and static for photographs. But my real goal was to capture moments when President Obama engaged with leaders during breaks, and before and after the formal sessions. Much was made of the President’s sit-down with President Putin of Russia. The unscheduled meeting occurred when the President, heading to the restroom, encountered Putin, who was leaving the same restroom. The two spoke for a couple of minutes while standing, then decided to sit down in a corner of the coffee break room. The only cameras permitted in this area were the official photographers and videographers of the host country, Turkey. The only reason I had access to this room was because of the work of our advance office and the good graces of my Turkish counterpart and their protocol office. Contrary to a published report, the Russian official photographer was not present. Instead, one of the Turkish photographers released photographs, which were widely distributed by the Associated Press, Reuters, and Getty Images.
In the Philippines, at the APEC Summit, I did not have much access to the meetings themselves but was able to finagle my way into the leaders lounge several times to capture the President engaged with world leaders more informally.
In Malaysia, my access to the ASEAN and East Asia Summits was not good at all. I did manage to stay in the room throughout the formal State Dinner, but I was not allowed to take photographs. Despite the fact that the entire two-hour elaborate cultural program was broadcast live on Malaysia television, even the Malaysian official photographer was kicked out.
For me — and probably the President, the highlights of the trip were greeting young refugees at The Dignity for Children Foundation in Kuala Lumpur and touring the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, a frigate of the Philippine Navy (that was formerly a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter) in Manila.
More posts from this series:
More posts from the President’s trip to Asia:
