Long-time White House photographer Pete Souza weighed in on some recent images released by the Trump administration of Donald Trump, saying that they were “obviously” staged.
After revealing that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, President Donald Trump checked into Walter Reed hospital, as The Inquisitr previously reported. While there, he released a few images that appeared to show him working in various rooms while he was being treated, as The Daily Beast wrote.
Souza, who worked under both former President Ronald Reagan and former President Barack Obama, has a unique perspective about the photos coming out of the White House.
“They were obviously posed pictures,” he said.
As ABC News reported at the time, the three images came under intense scrutiny.
In the first image, Trump wears a dark blue jacket and a white button-down shirt open at the neck. He appears to be signing a piece of paper at a round table.
When the image is zoomed in on, the paper that he is signing appears to be blank and he is apparently signing his name to the empty page. An official pushed back on the claim, saying that the image was overexposed on the page so that the type couldn’t be seen.
In a second image, the suit jacket is gone, but it seems as though he is wearing a similar shirt. Again, he works at a table with several binders and documents in front of him.
A journalist named Jon Ostrower examined the two images and noted that they were taken just 10 minutes apart.
Souza also spoke with Variety about the images, repeating the claim that the images released by the administration aren’t real.
“They’re reality show photos. It’s hard to find any authentic behind-the-scenes moments among the tens of thousands of photographs they’ve posted on Flickr,” he said.
The images stand in contrast to his own photos, according to Souza, who feels that his images create a more accurate portrayal of the reality of the White House behind the scenes. He explained why he felt it was important to capture reality.
“Michelle Obama has the great quote where she says the presidency doesn’t change who you are, it reveals who you are. I think my photographs of both President Reagan and President Obama reveal who they are as human beings. They’re authentic. They’re not staged. They’re not posed,” he said.
