Pete Souza is a best-selling author, speaker and freelance photographer. He is also Professor Emeritus of Visual Communication at Ohio University. For all eight years of the Obama administration, Souza was the Chief Official White House Photographer and the Director of the White House photo office. His book, Obama: An Intimate Portrait, was published by Little, Brown & Company in 2017, and debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. His 2018 book, Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents, also debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Shade is a portrait in Presidential contrasts, telling the tale of the Obama and Trump administrations through a series of visual juxtapositions.It is one of the best-selling photography books of all time.

In 2021, Souza was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame. In 2022, Souza was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Professional Photographers of America.

Based on his best-selling books, Souza became the subject of a documentary film in November 2020, The Way I See It.  Directed by Dawn Porter–and produced by Porter, Laura Dern, Evan Hayes and Jayme Lemons–the film takes an unprecedented look behind the scenes of two of the most iconic Presidents in history, Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan, as seen through Souza's eyes and camera. As Official White House Photographer for both these Presidents, Souza was an eyewitness to the unique and tremendous responsibilities of being the most powerful man in the world. The film also reveals how Souza transformed from a respected White House photographer and photojournalist to a searing commentator on the importance of having someone with empathy and dignity in the office of the Presidency. The film was nominated for an Emmy, premiering on MSNBC and became the highest rated non-news, non-live program ever. Souza also won the Critic's Choice Award for Most Compelling Living Subject of a documentary.

Souza's most recent photography book, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside the Presidency, was published in September 2022. This book takes you inside the presidential bubble with photographs and stories of consequential moments and traditions with the people who define our nation’s highest office—from the senior White House staff to the Oval Office valets. It delivers new insights into the role of the Secret Service, the seriousness of decisive meetings in the West Wing, and even some fun moments aboard Air Force One.

Pete has also lectured numerous times on his photography including at the Carnegie Hall, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Museum of American History, Harvard University, FaceBook, and in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, India, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. He has appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, TNBC Nightly News,  The Today Show, Dateline NBC, ABC's 20-20, Morning Joe, Face The Nation, Fox News Sunday, The 11th Hour  (with both Brian Williams and Stephanie Ruhle), The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, All In with Chris Hayes, Alex Wagner Tonight, and Deadline White House with Nicolle Wallace.

Souza started his career working for two small newspapers in Kansas. From there, he worked as a staff photographer for the Chicago Sun-Times;  an Official Photographer for President Reagan; a freelancer for National Geographic  and other publications; the national photographer for the Chicago Tribune based in their Washington, D.C. bureau; and an assistant professor of photojournalism at Ohio University; before becoming Chief Official White House Photographer for President Obama in 2009.

In addition to the national political scene, Souza has covered stories around the world. After 9/11, he was among the first journalists to cover the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan, after crossing the Hindu Kush mountains by horseback in three feet of snow.  Also while at the Tribune, Souza was part of the staff awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for explanatory reporting on the airline industry.

In 1992, Souza produced and published, Unguarded Moments: Behind-the-Scenes Photographs of President Reagan, based on his 5 1/2 years in the Reagan White House.  Former Sen. Howard Baker Jr. said in his introduction to the book that Souza recorded "some of the most intimate, honest and humanizing scenes of the presidency I've ever seen."  Souza was also the official photographer for the June 2004 funeral of President Reagan. His 2008 book, "The Rise of Barack Obama," includes exclusive photographs of Senator Obama's rise to power. The book was also on the New York Times bestseller list.
In 1996, Souza self-published a documentary photography book entitled, "Plebe Summer at the U.S. Naval Academy".  The book chronicles one company of incoming midshipmen through the six-week indoctrination period of Plebe Summer.

Souza has won numerous photojournalism awards including several times in the prestigious Pictures of the Year annual competition, the NPPA's Best of Photojournalism, and the White House News Photographers Association's yearly contest.

Souza has had solo exhibits of his photographs at numerous galleries: the Leica Gallery in NYC; Xposure Photography Festival in Sharjah, UAE; The Kennedys Museum in Berlin, Germany; Etruscan Museum in Cortona, Italy; Fermilab in Illinois; U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland; Navy Museum in Washington, D.C.; University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C.; Boston University; Ohio University in Athens, Ohio; and the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. His photographs have also been part of group exhibits at the National Archives, Smithsonian Museum of American History, Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Newseum,  and the 92nd Street Y in NYC. He currently has two traveling exhibits,  "Obama: An Intimate Portrait" and "Two Presidents: Obama and Reagan".

Souza is a native of South Dartmouth, Mass.  He graduated cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in public communication from Boston University and received his master's degree in journalism and mass communication from a university in Kansas.