Behind the Lens: Photographing the President in 50 Countries
by Pete Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer
Today, President Obama visits Kenya — the 50th country he has visited during his Administration. It’s also my 50th country traveling with the President.
To mark the occasion, as I did when the President visited his 50th state, I chose one photograph from each country that we’ve visited.
Traveling abroad with the President is very different.
Often times, I am at the mercy of the host country for access. Some countries are more accommodating to me than others. I am lucky to have counterpart official photographers in many countries who are extremely helpful to me in this regard. I of course try to return the help to them when they visit the White House with their head of state.
We’re also rarely in any one country for more than a couple of days, which gives us only a partial glimpse of each place. And because of security, the sites we are able to visit are often limited too.
All that said, we’ve had the incredible opportunity to visit the Pyramids in Egypt, Stonehenge in the United Kingdom, the Great Wall in China, Petra in Jordan, and the Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar (Burma). (So I really shouldn’t complain too much.)
I hope you enjoy this gallery. And stay tuned — we’ll be adding a photograph from Kenya and additionally, Ethiopia, following his visit next week.
Afghanistan, 2012
Australia, 2014
Belgium, 2014
Brazil, 2011
Cambodia, 2012
Canada, 2009
Chile, 2011
China, 2009
Colombia, 2012
Costa Rica, 2013
Czech Republic, 2009
Denmark, 2009
Egypt, 2009
El Salvador, 2011
Estonia, 2014
France, 2009
Germany, 2015
Ghana, 2009
India, 2010
Indonesia, 2010
Iraq, 2010
Ireland, 2011
Israel, 2013
Italy, 2009
Jamaica, 2015
Japan, 2010
Jordan, 2013
Kenya, 2015
Malaysia, 2014
Mexico, 2012
Myanmar (Burma), 2012
Netherlands, 2014
Norway, 2009
Panama, 2015
Philippines, 2015
Poland, 2011
Portugal, 2010
Russia, 2009
Saudi Arabia, 2014
Senegal, 2013
Singapore, 2009
South Africa, 2013
South Korea, 2012
Sweden, 2013
Tanzania, 2013
Thailand, 2012
Trinidad, 2009
Turkey, 2009
United Kingdom, 2014
Vatican City, 2014
See other posts in the series:
Behind the Lens: Photographing the President in 50 States
Pete Souza highlights his favorite photos from across the U.S., ahead of the President’s visit to South Dakota — his 50th state.
Behind the Lens: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Pete Souza describes how he captured a photo of a rainbow as the President’s arrived in Kingston, Jamaica. See the photos.
Behind the Lens: Selma, 50 Years Later
Pete Souza takes you inside the President’s visit to Selma for the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. See the photos.