Host both the exhibit and the talk. As soon as we receive the email proposing an exhibit for our library, we knew we wanted to be apart. As im sure everyone in this room is well aware, michelle attended Princeton University just up the street from 1981 to 1985. It did seem fitting to have these photographs in the Public Library where she spent four years of her early life and to take part in the book tour that looks at her life in the white house. V thanks also to the art council of princeton, especially maria mark for expertly hanging the photographs in our reading room for us. The exhibit will be on view through december 3. Of course, thanks are also in order for coming on site to handle the book signing that will follow the talk and discussion. We invite everyone to visit the reading room which is just across the hallway so that you can see the photos at close and personal once we are finished with the formal part of the evening. It is my great pleasure to introduce amanda, per she had a front row seat to the events in the obama white house. For four years, she was the only female photographer on white house staff and she was tasked with covering michelle obama. In fact, she is only one of a very few female white photographers in history. The position that she held from 2013 until 2017. In addition to this prestigious appointment, she is an awardwinning documentarian, filmmaker and former freelance photographer. Now, a published author. She attended Indiana University of pennsylvania where she studied communication, media and Journalism Project also studied photography at the university, the Art Institute of philadelphia. Her work has been honored by pictures of the year international, national, best of journalism and the whitete t hoe Photographers Association among several other pitch is currently a photographer, filmmaker and public speaker based out of washington d. C. And so we want to welcome amanda to princeton. We are so glad you are here. [applause] thank you. Thank you for having me at this Beautiful Library and thank you for all of you who could come tonight. Thank you to my team at ten speed for helping me create this pitiful book and the exhibit that travels with it. One of the points of having this book was to make it as assessable as possible and thats why im traveling around to public libraries. So, i think what i like to do is maybe answer some of the questions that i get quite often, and the first one is, how did you get a job like that . Did anyone else have that question . A few people. I have no idea. Im still pinching myself that it actually happened. For me, an important story to tell is that i was a freelance photographer, working for a newspaper and i took a buyout from the newspaper business and moved to washington d. C. To start my own freelance photography business. I knew it be a place that hadkna lot of opportunity, but i forgot to account that is also super competitive. So, i was doing freelance photography work and that was the work that was paying the bills, but i was also doing what i call passion projects, projects that were really important to me. And so, even though that was the work that wasnt being funded, that was actually the work that began to win the awards. That was the work that began to bring me in front of influential circles in the photography community, and at one of those events i met pete souza. For those of you who dont know who he is, he was the chief white house photographer for president baracke obama. And so, i met him once at this event and two years later he called me up and asked me if i wanted to apply for the job. So, my phone rang and he said hey amanda its pete and i said you realize this is amanda lucid on emma right so for me there was only one answer to that question and that was of course, i would love to apply for the job. And then, surprisingly i got to spend the next four years photographing president obama as well as mrs. Obama. I spent most of my time photographing mrs. Obama but i got to travel to 20 countries and see so many cities that i always dream to visit. Thats probably the most popular question i i get. Lets just adjust this a little bit. Q the other question i get is, what is your favorite photo. I only have one child but its sort of like asking whats your favorite child too a mother. [laughter] it depends on the day and how i feel and theres probably a favorite, but im not going to tell you. So, instead of telling you my favorite photos, i will tell you about the kind of photos that i like to make. I like to make pictures that would be easy for me to focus on the first lady. Im just to take this off. Maybe not. Is theah microphone okay . Yes. It would be easy for me to focus on the first lady because she is so extraordinary and so beautiful, but what i noticed is the way people react tour. I was a always focusing on her face, then i would miss the way people are reacting tour. I remember the first time i met her and sort of how i felt and what i was thinking. I dont remember what i said, but at the white house, i would see time and time again how people react and i loved this picture because these students are part of a program called the Turnaround Arts Program and they came to the white house to perform. The turnaround our program was a program that goes into the lowest performing schools in the country and its been proven that if you infuse the arts that it can actually turn the schools around. So, these students were part of Orchard Garden school and their school had really improved this pilot program. They are invited to come to the white house and perform. They had just performed in a room t next door and they did a poem and a dance and the poem was about not judging a book by its cover and about not letting circumstances define you, and so mrs. Obama was really moved by it and after the event she said, where are the students. She wanted to surprise them so, i was following right behind her and i heard her say this so they were in the map room and i just scooted right in front ofn her and into the room and just a few seconds later she walked in and said hey everybody, what are yall doing in here and they just arrested with joy. So, you can see i like living in all these spaces per there was such joy in each one of these childrens faces. I hear some people laughing. What do you feel when you look at this picture . Fun, having a good time, joy everyone loves dogs, can someone help me with this microphone. Its a little distracting to me. Technology is so important. Sometimes it doesnt work in life. But, im here now. I minute. All right. Joey. So, this is one, this was early on when i took this picture and it was probably the first time i looked at mrs. Obama and was like oh my gosh, she is just like everybody else. So, i have a dog, i love my dog and there were a lot of times that we set up for events to cover in the white house where we would do taping like a Public Service announcement or a video that would run on tv and sometimes that was the white house tv doing that, and sometimes it was someone from outside who came in to do the taping. This time we were setting up for the easter egg roll. There was going to be a message about the easter egg roll. I soon found out was there were always, these seem to be pretty predictable environments, but there is always a chance that something spontaneous was going to happen. Especially when it involved president obama or the dogs. For this picture in particular, bo was set up, hes always ready to have hisun picture taken but sunny is the younger dog and she always had her own ideas of what she wanted to do. This is a picture of where shes trying to get sunny to sit up and be ready for the video. I was like taking candid shots. For me this is a picture that i go to when i want to feel joy. So this picture, we traveled around to innovative garden programs were at school. Mrs. Obama always seemed to have this lock for her, we would land in the plane, it would be raining and the skies would be dark and this was an event we were going too outside on a rooftop garden, and somehow we get off the plane and the skies would part in the sun would come out so we were able to participate in this composting exercise with young girls and so they asked mrs. Obama if they wanted gloves and she would say i dont need gloves and they were demonstrating and she just picked up the worm and they found the worm and she picked it up and looked at the worm and at the same time a gust of wind came and put up all their hair and it was g flying in the air. That was, i feel like i got really lucky with that moment. I like having images that have some surprise. Again, going back to people dont have to see, you know this is mrs. Obama, its justt her arm, but that face and those teeth. [laughter] you dont really need to say much more than that, shes just glowing. She is such admiration and those are the kind of fun photos at the national zoo when they were there to name the new panda so, i just love the way she is looking up at her. And then this picture, this was a group of girls from liberia and morocco and we went there as part of the let girls learn initiatives that sheds light on the fact that 62 Million Girls dont have the opportunity to get an education, and so they were actually invited to watch, there was a documentary made about this and they were invited to the white house to watch this documentary. These girls that we met from liberia had never even been out of their own town let alone on a plane and then brought to the white house. They were so thrilled to be there, and this is another picture you can sort of live in all of these faces. Thats what i love about photos. You can rediscover something new, like i just noticed the otherd day that i had always looked at all the girls faces, you see wonder and joy in shock and disbelief and i just saw this and i never noticed her before. I was like shes a teacher and shes not looking at mrs. Obama, shes looking at her students and she is so proud and thats what teachers can do and thats what mentors can do and thats what people in our communities can do and librarians, and it took me a while to find that, but im sure maybe in a couple weeks i might discover Something Else looking at this picture or maybe youll discover something in you can share with me. So i think people think official white house photographer, that sounds like it could be boring so when i edited a book, i wanted to make sure none of these pictures felt official, that all felt candid. Those are the kind of pictures i like to make. I photographed the president , president obama and mrs. Obama at a podium many, many times, but there is Something Different about this picture. What is different . No shoes. He took the shoes off. And what color is that toenail polish. Its blue. [laughter] so, i didnt expect that, so thats why i like being, you always have to be ready because something could surprise you and this was surprising to me. I included it in the book. I like to make pictures that are visually interesting so this is a picture that i took at the milan world expo in milan, it was called the mere room and its made up of a bunch of mirrors and also a projector so theyre constantly projecting new scenes on the wall and each scene probably lasts maybe ten seconds, five or ten seconds. So, the interesting challenge was, how do you disappear in a room full of mirrors as the photographer because you dont see me in there, right so i found a crack in the room where the two mirrors meet, i turned sideways and made myself as small as possible and i thought thin thoughts. , and it worked. [laughter] it worked. I also realized as a white house photographer you are in a very special position that you have access to space that other people dont have access to. This is the Kennedy Center honors at washington d. C. , and weve all seen this on tv, but weve seen from the other side of the door when president obama and mrs. Obama walk out and they waved to the crowd, but this is actually a photograph from the president ial box so at that point there was me, a staff member, and then the secret Service Agent who doesnt really worry about how much time i have to take a picture. It was really just two frames and the door was closed. That was a thing, always being ready, always looking, trying to show something thats a little bit different. So, i liked that photo for this reason and i like to make those kinds of images. Moments of quiet reflection. This is in cambodia at anchor what and for me, i got to travel too so many places that i had only seen in magazines as a kid so, to be afforded what a unique experience, but then to also be there with mrs. Obama was such a privilege. I like this image because it feels very quiet and you wonder, or i wonder, what was she thinking and i dont know what she was thinking. I know what i wasnk thinking though, i was thinking how lucky i am in life to be in such a special place and to have such a special experience. To be in a place that is so old and so full of history and so rich with culture was an externally privilege. I like when people say oh two your photos. It warms my heart but thats how i feel about this picture too, because as serious and an Important Role that she had is the first lady, being a mother was the mosti important tour. I feel like this picture, or i hope this picture shows that. We were on the great wall of china. This is my First International trip and i was very nervous because they wanted to do a good job and i was the only official photographer traveling, and so, when you travel you do encounter obstacles and its constantly brushing yourself off and getting back up again and keep going, just keep going and always be ready. Then when you are, you get rewarded, or i feel like i got rewarded with a picture like this. This is one ofit my favorites ad mrs. Obama, sasha and melia were looking off to the distance of the wall, and mrs. Obama turned around and said amanda, would you take a picture of us so i took opposed a picture of them and put my camera down and shortly after that she grabbed her girls in for a big hug and i picked my camera up and took a couple more frames and i like this one much better than the post picture does anybody know this picture. What the motion does this picture evoke . Love so thats what i think, if you take president obama and mrs. Obama out of the picture, or you forget they are, maybe you put yourself in the picture, maybe thats how you want to feel. I think thats thee. Thing, thas how we all want to feel when we are in love, and i hope that pictures transcend those messages, and that maybe we can look a little bit deeper. Going back to the liberian girl i was talking about earlier, this is actually in liberia. As we arrived to africa, a place i had always wanted to go to, my whole life so much so that when i finally got there, i think i was 37 at the time i said can i sit in the cockpit, we are really going to need pictures of this. And they let me so i got to make these pictures of us flying in and landing in a dirt run and runway in liberia and it was raining and we had 45 minutes to get to the school and most of the roads were washed out so obviously the motorcade drivers in the secret Service Agents were pretty nervous about that, but we made it to the school and we met these girls in the school had no electricity, and you cant tell from this photo but there was a wall here that just has cinderblocks that are open so thats how the lights come in, but it was really dark, especially because of the rainstorm and so i always have a flash with me, but i didnt use a flash in the situation because it wasnt about me getting the pictures, it was sort of about keeping that intimacy, so for those of you who are photographers i was shooting at a really low speed to get this image. You know, there was a dirt floor, there was hardly any books and these girls were really proud of the school. Some of them had to walk two hours to gets to school, sometimes through dangerous situations, a lot of the girls dont get to study and to until after theyve done their chores and often times its by candlelight so i was really inspired by these girls and i know mrs. Obama was two. These are the girls that i made the book four. When i was presented the unique opportunity to make the book, i was asked how big i wanted it to be, did i want a Coffee Table Book or an art book and for me it was all about acceptability. These girls were going to carry the book for two hours in their backpack, i wanted it to be lightweight. You noticed it doesnt have a dust jacket because how many of us have struggled with the dust jacket even in the best circumstances. I wanted to keep it at a price point that was accessible and affordable and for those who still cant afford to purchase the book, i wanted them to be able to get a that libraries which is why its so important to be here and to be traveling around. You will get to see the exhibit to and whats really cool about that is those are the exact same sized prince and the same way reframe them at the white house. So we took all of these photos, and there are 4 million photos in the obama archive. Thats aha lot, right and every two weeks he would go through the images, our editing team would go through andnd pick the best pictures and they would hang on the hallways in the east and west wing and it was always reallye cool when people stopped because everyone in the white m hard to working so accomplish so much but they dont really get a chance to celebrate what theyve just done because theyre already working on the next thing. The pictures were great reminder of what we had done and seen so is always great to be able to see people stopping and looking at pictures and it was great to look at your pictures hanging on the wall that was especially great if that person wassi mrs. Obama or president obama. I would just sort of secretly, like i didnt see that, but explanation of the book and how it was made and why was designed the way it was. Then, going back to this picture, the turnaround art students, its mrs. Obama and president obama said to workk hard and do well and make sure you turn around and reach back and help others. And so this opportunity has allowed me to do that. I have beentu recently named a turnaround artist so i will be assigned to my own school so i can help students like this and share my passion with photography and the arts and also a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Turnaround Arts Program. Along with the book tour, going to libraries will also be visiting turnaround art schools. So,ll that concludes my presentation, but there is plenty