This documentary takes you in an intimate journey of the 8 years of Obama's presidency, not from a heavily political point of view but more about the human emotions that a true leader requires. Souza soon realized how different the current President reacts to similar situations and he becomes more vocal and automatically an Instagram sensation. A must watch documentary to deeply understand what it really takes to fill the job of President of USA and surprisingly it doesn't have to do with politics or tactics but kindness and empathy.
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erika_bustamante13 September 2020
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Hitchcoc17 October 2020I know some will see this as a way to diminish Trump. If it does, it's because of the successful portrayal of Barack Obama with all the qualities that make for an admirable human being. Need I say more. Don't forget that this man did the same job for Ronald Regan. This should be watched for the brilliant photos that captured the essence of the moment. It, for me, brought back memories of the ugliness of Sandy Hook and the killings in the Baptist church. It was very well done.
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moneymaran17 October 2020This was an emotional journey for me. I was grinning ear to ear and pretty choked up on occasions of this movie. Shows how important the role of the POTUS is. You truly feel the human emotion and connections. Thanks Pete for this and showing us the internals of the fully functioning administration.
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hhertz-1941917 October 2020A picture is truly worth a thousand words. I cried for most of it, watching history unfold one frame at a time. The kindness, empathy and concern for others, the hope for a better future, sharing others pain during their toughest times in their lives was incredibly touching. A great reminder that those we vote into office can single handedly make or break a nation's future.
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SheDolphin17 October 2020I just watched this on MSNBC. I missed the part about Sandy Hook and would really like to see it through the lens of Peter Souza. I've always assumed that day was the hardest day of Obama's presidency. Loved the story of how Souza was an apolitical photo journalist. Worked for President Reagan. Then, President Obama. And then, transformed from a fly on the wall to having a voice that honors America, love, honor, truth, integrity, and human empathy.
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nancyldraper18 October 2020Thoroughly enjoyed this documentary that looks beyond the politics into the lives of the presidents he photographed. A timely story of hope, character and the urgency of truth. I give this documentary a 10 (inspiring) out of 10 {Documentary}
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dingodad17 October 2020It's nice to revisit the days of "Presidential". Thank you Pete for sharing your gift.
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jjmmkk-895-5213518 October 2020As a borderline atheist my reaction to this wonderful film shocks even me: I realize - in retrospect - that for eight too brief years we were a blessed nation.
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panorama9224018 October 2020This documentary showed us what a REAL President acts like. Both Obama and Reagan both BEHAVED like someone the country could be proud of. Extreme contrast on what we have today in the WH. Made me sad to think of what we used to have compared to the disaster we have now.
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Gordon-1120 December 2020This is a great documentary that tells the side of Obama that we don't see. It is captivating, touching and effective.
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paulhunt-4864511 March 2021The first hour showed an excellent account through photographs of the Obama administration but the last 30-40 mins took a turn and was a typical Trump bashing. Not a fan of Trump and really only wanted to get his perspective of Obama.
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cappiethadog19 October 2020An institutionist works for both parties. Politics play no part in how an institutionist carries out his/her job. The institutionist is loyal to the constitution. That's the coded message filmmaker Dawn Porter conveys in "The Way I See It", a documentary about one man's courage to speak out.
Up is still up and down is still down in the solace of the woods. The filmmaker shoots the sky, obscured by treetops. The subject, Pete Souza, gets down on bended knee to shoot a lonely mushroom. Clouds and fungus are where they're supposed to be. This ordinary-seeming man, dressed modestly in a blue jacket, chosen for its practicality, and not out of any sense of fashion, once was the Chief White House photographer for Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States. In a soft voice, Souza expresses relief about not having to carry around "a Blackberry, 24/7, for 365 days a year." His Blackberry habit ended when President Obama boarded Air Force One for the last time in 2017. You see pictures of Souza's work, and it's good work; his photographs narrate that day in mid-January, in which the outgoing leader of the free world took one last look at his former home from a bird's eye view outside the helicopter window. Pete Souza captured on film, for posterity, the peaceful transfer of power. In another picture, we see Obama's hand placed lightly on the back of the incoming president as they walk towards the black Cadillac limousine they'll be riding together in, en route to the inauguration, where the president elect will be sworn in.
Rewind to 1980.
Under the tutelage of Mary Anne Fackleman, the first female White House photographer, Pete Souza worked as an assistant shutterbug for the Reagan administration. Despite not being a fan of Ronald Reagan's ideology, Souza took the job, because history, not politics, was his higher calling. He pledged an allegiance to art. He was a nonpartisan photographer, an institutionist in his own right.
Souza got to know the former Hollywood star as a person. Sure, he took pictures of Reagan in his official trappings, the focal point of the West Wing, sitting behind the resolute desk in the Oval Office; and sure, there must have been times when he heard matters of domestic or foreign policy that wasn't in simpatico with his own belief system, but nobody asked for the shutterbug's opinion, nor did he offer one. Objectivity is the bedrock of photojournalism. Invisibility, a superpower; a fly on the wall that plays deaf. Pete Souza may not have liked Reagan as a politician, but without a doubt, he liked the politician as a man. More importantly, the politician liked him back. The best scene during this period in Souza's career is when he and Fackleman-Miner document the president and his wife, First Lady Nancy Reagan, acting like any married couple in love. The White House garden is the setting. While Fackleman-Miner operates the movie camera, her assistant, back when he had black hair and a moustache, shoots the president splashing the First Lady with a water hose. Reagan has an idea for a gag picture. President Reagan pretends to wield a chainsaw while Nancy fends him off from the tree designated for removal. It's a staged photograph, going against the grain of Souza's proclivity for natural, unguarded moments, but that's okay. The real subject is the couple's propensity for spontaneous fun, a dimension to Ronald and Nancy Reagan, the ultimate power couple, that the public was never privy to. The Reagans must have known that Pete Souza was no conservative. But they liked him anyway. That's because they had nonpartisan hearts, or rather, apolitical ones. When Ronald Reagan passed away, he was asked by his famous widow to join her in the airplane that carried the president's casket, and in the car, as part of a motorcade to the funeral and final resting place.
This actually happened in the not-so-distant past.
Kacey Musgraves, in her song "High Time", addresses how she needs to take a breather from technology, with this, now, pointed line: "I'm gonna turn off my phone, start catching up with the old me." But Pete Souza rocks a Brandi Carlile shirt. The caption reads: "By the Way I Forgive You", which is also the namesake of the singer-songwriter's last album. Out of necessity, Pete Souza returned to the limelight, trading in that antiquated Blackberry for an IPhone. As a freelance photographer, with no obligation to bipartisanship, Pete Souza found his voice. He went on social media and posted photographs of former President Barack Obama. Nothing new, really, this new hobby. As the sitting president, Souza's work was displayed on a different social media platform for all the world to see. This time, however, the photographs were editorialized with pointed captions that served as a counterpoint to the man currently occupying the seat behind the resolute desk.
Adapted from Souza's book "Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents", named such after a follower responded: "Pete Souza is dropping shade with a comment on drapes." Souza had written: "I like these drapes better than the new ones, don't you think? under a picture of the Oval Office, when the drapes were red, instead of gold. As a social media darling, hypothetically speaking, Souza rewrites Musgraves' line: "I'm gonna turn back on my phone, and start reinventing a new one." Naturally, his career as a photojournalist is over. But that's the price you pay for being brave.
For a man who, initially, didn't know the meaning of "throwing shade", Pete Souza is awfully good at it. Look at the song listing for the Brandi Carlile album, especially the last track. Even his t-shirt is throwing shade.
"Party of One". -
wheeelertron17 February 2021Pete Souza's perspective is showcased here in this grounded and mostly-well-executed documentary on his political photography that becomes an examination of the role of a US President, and of Souza's move into activism as he is left shocked by what he is seeing post-Obama. I had some problems with what seemed to me inappropriate and painfully-literal musical choices to accompany some of the montages, but his photography is excellent and is well-presented and I am thoroughly glad to have seen it.
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jjcqzvn24 July 2021I could not help retching, when ever the photographer decided to put his personal beliefs and opinions forward, they are not the majority but the minority. Clearly a one dimensional leftist. Sure takes a good photo but the selective editing and selective bias is far too evident. Its too extreme.
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annieivis22 October 2020I found this on TV by accident and it has profoundly uplifted me. Maybe we can back to this again someday. Brilliant narratives and photographs. Thank you for making this for us all to share.
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ks-6050027 November 2020From a 3rd party to view the presidency and go into the other side the public rarely know is the highlight of this documentary. Running a county like a business, making millions and million of dollars, jobs without mercy. Is that what American wants? Results proof everything. Obama makes a world a better place and win his co workers and Americans heart. What did Trump do for the past 4 years ? I just see a boss running a company and his workers hate him.
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theresascherf5 November 2020This film is truly extraordinary--artistically as a portrait of an enormously gifted person and the ways he evolved as president navigating the eventful times during which he led this country; biographically (not only in relation to Obama but also Souza himself, his evolving insightfulness and creativity); historically; and spiritually. I look forward to purchasing a copy as one of those films I know I will re-watch and gain new insights and inspiration from.
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deloudelouvain28 November 2020I can't belive I almost didn't watch this documentary. As a European I don't have a high opinion of American politics or presidents but I'm interested in photography so I gave it a shot. I was wrong doubting the quality of The Way I See It. The documentary is very well made, very emotional at times, and contains stunning pictures of mostly Barrack Obama. The contrast between Obama and Trump couldn't be bigger after watching this movie. Seeing how Obama really cares about the people against seeing Trump showing off in front of his rich friends it's just the right representation of what many people think. I cried a couple times, never thought I would, cried because of the humane picture I have now of America's greatest president ever, certainly as a normal caring human being, taking difficult decisions that are for the greater good. Pete Souza might be political now but he wasn't when he took those pictures. Great photographer, that in the end turned out to be great human being with a good sense of humor. The Way I See It is a beautiful documentary, that should be watched by everybody, whether you like Obama or not, whether you like Trump or not.
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gesges-1349113 January 2021It's not just about his time with Obama but that is at the core of this documentary. It also features his time with Ronald Reagan who Pete Souza differed with politically but who he felt was a good man who genuinely cared about the American people he led. This documentary is a stark reminder of the vast difference between a great leader like Obama and the abject failure of leadership we've had under Trump. Highly recommended!
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RandyFoxglove7 November 2020I don't give 10s often, but this film deeply moved me in ways I did not expect. After watching the trailer, I actually waited several weeks before taking the time to see it.
The contrast between a president, who meant so much to so many, and the current occupant of the White House was emotionally devastating. I was, oddly enough for the first time, forced to confront the fact that one of the loudest supporters of the 'Birther' movement, somehow weaseled his way into the White House, stoking fear and hatred, meanwhile demeaning the integrity of the office.
The photography featured in the film was mostly new to me. I lived abroad during the Obama years and was removed from American politics. This was the perfect time to watch a perfect film and reflect on what it means to elect a person to the White House as well as character traits that are vital to the occupant. I commend the filmmakers for a master-crafted, moving, work of art. -
justin-fencsak2 November 2020Mostly compiled of photos of Reagan and Obama, this movie tells the story of Souza, a famous photographer who has taken images of presidents since the 70s. It's definitely a movie that's educational and interesting and during the airing there was only one curse word that was censored for tv (the movie is rated PG-13 for that). If you see this movie, see it on Prime. Highly recommeneded for fans of politics and photos.
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chrispule2 November 2020Such a Beautiful Biography of Potus Barack Obama
The Fruits of Kindness Compassion Empathy Loving & Graceful
Had no idea who Souza was b4 watching so did not know what to expect
But what I watched was a great documentation of Obamas Terms as a Man Father Friend Husband. Such a refreshing take and breath of fresh of air compared to other types of documentary heading in2 the 2020 Election.
Thank you Pete Souza 👍 -
aagriffinesq19 November 2020@SheDolphin... the documentary is available for purchase on AppleTV. My basic cable doesn't include MSNBC. Thus, that's where I watched the film. Any road... Cheers.
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paragphadnis12 February 2021It's a must watch for everyone who is interested in photography, politics, USA and President Obama! In today's time, every minute of watching this is worth it...
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rantall23 August 2021History, personal profiles, great music. This is a great documentary.