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Obama WH photographer throws more shade at Trump

Story highlights
  • Pete Souza was Obama's official chief White House photographer
  • He's posted images subtly knocking Trump on Instagram this week

UPDATE: Since we first posted this story, former President Barack Obama's chief photographer, Pete Souza, the man who documented almost every impactful moment of the Obama presidency, continues to post images to his Instagram account, and its 738,000 followers, in response to President Donald Trump's actions and policies. A silent, social media, shade-throwing protest told in visuals from the millions of images in Souza's archive, the photos appear to be Souza's expression of opposition to the recent moves of the Trump administration.

In the past few days, as the world processed Trump's temporary ban on new refugees to the US, Souza has posted on his Instagram account pictures of refugees, from a project he shot in Kosovo:

On Thursday, headlines about Trump's confrontational phone call with Australian leader Malcolm Turnbull continued to swirl on Thursday, Souza chose to put up a photo of a laughing Obama, being chummy with New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key, and Turnbull at last September's ASEAN Summit.

And today, while the cover of German weekly magazine, Der Spiegel, showcased an illustration of Trump holding the decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty, Souza went with a shot of Obama and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, having a private conversation at the 2015 G7 Summit.

Original post: President Barack Obama's former White House photographer is taking to Instagram to show frustration with the new administration.

Pete Souza was responsible for documenting the Obama administration, capturing images of the official duties of the West Wing and more personal, intimate peeks into White House life, snaps he often shared on Flickr and Instagram.

After eight years capturing Obama's every move, Souza is taking some time off -- his new Instagram account biography reading: "TBD."

But he's taken to the visual platform in the last few days, posting a series of photos subtly knocking President Donald Trump.

As the chaotic roll out of the President's executive order on immigration captured headlines and spurred protests over the weekend, Souza posted a photo of Obama and a young refugee in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2015:

Talking with a young refugee at a Dignity for Children Foundation classroom in 2015.

On Monday, he posted an image of Obama in the Oval Office with Alex, the 6-year-old boy who wrote to the former president about the Syrian boy photographed in the ambulance.

"Remember Alex," he wrote.

Remember Alex, the six-year-old boy who wrote President Obama a letter about the Syrian boy photographed in the ambulance. Alex visited the Oval Office with his family the day after the election. "Dear President Obama, Remember the boy who was picked up by the ambulance in Syria? Can you please go get him and bring him to [my home]? Park in the driveway or on the street and we will be waiting for you guys with flags, flowers, and balloons. We will give him a family and he will be our brother. Catherine, my little sister, will be collecting butterflies and fireflies for him. In my school, I have a friend from Syria, Omar, and I will introduce him to Omar. We can all play together. We can invite him to birthday parties and he will teach us another language. We can teach him English too, just like my friend Aoto from Japan. Please tell him that his brother will be Alex who is a very kind boy, just like him. Since he won't bring toys and doesn't have toys Catherine will share her big blue stripy white bunny. And I will share my bike and I will teach him how to ride it. I will teach him additions and subtractions in math. And he [can] smell Catherine's lip gloss penguin which is green. She doesn't let anyone touch it. Thank you very much! I can't wait for you to come! Alex 6 years old "

He shared an image of the former president in the East Room during a military naturalization ceremony for active-duty service members:

July 4, 2012. Watching as Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano administers the oath during a military naturalization ceremony for active duty service members in the East Room.

As Trump prepared to unveil his Supreme Court nominee Tuesday, Souza posted a photo of Obama with his own Supreme Court nominee who never received a vote.

"Merrick Garland. Just saying," he simply wrote.

Merrick Garland. Just saying.

He also posted a photo of the former president drinking tequila with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who cancelled his meeting with Trump last week.

This one is for Grover. President Obama sampling some tequila with President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico in 2013. @heygrover

Souza got his start in West Wing photography as official White House photographer for President Ronald Reagan, spent part of his career teaching photojournalism and shooting for the Chicago Tribune and National Geographic.

"I have always looked at this job as documenting for history. It was never about politics. Although my political leanings are Democratic, I still felt it was important to photograph President Reagan with dignity and respect," he recently posted, alongside an image of Obama and Nancy Reagan.

While it's unusual for former presidents to weigh in on current events so soon after leaving office, Souza's former subject has also spoken up.

Obama, who was spotted by TMZ sporting a backwards cap in the British Virgin Islands on Tuesday, weighed in on Trump's executive action through spokesman Kevin Lewis over the weekend, saying he was "heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country."

Souza most recently posted a photo of Obama alongside a young boy at an elementary school with a stethoscope.

Take a deep breath. 2014.

"Take a deep breath," he wrote.

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