‘The Way I See It’ Review: Highlights the Power of an Image

I’ve been following Pete Souza, the former Chief Official White House Photographer under U.S. President Barack Obama, on Instagram for quite some time now. The images he posts of his time covering President Obama are snapshots into history and to be honest a reminder of better times. Now that he’s out of the office he’s free to let his honest opinion be known, and he’s been doing a witty job at showing his disapproval of President Trump by simply posting images from Obama’s presidency that often directly contrast how the current President is handling things. The Way I See It is a compelling documentary about Souza’s time at the White House and its impact on history.

Even if you don’t know Pete Souza’s name, you’ve no doubt seen at least some of his iconic images taken of President Obama. The one of him in the Oval Office, bent over to let a young kid touch his hair because they shared a similar style? Yeah, that was Souza. The documentary does a great job at talking about the Presidency from Souza’s perspective and what goes into being a White House photographer. Obama gave him access on a pretty much open level so he was able to capture so many moments, both wonderful and heartbreaking. Watching it brings up nostalgic memories of a better time and yes, a good portion of it also talks about the shade that he throws at the current Presidency. He isn’t afraid to inject his own commentary. It’s actually pretty hilarious that for any given situation Trump can be in, Souza typically isn’t far behind with a witty retort picture that he took of Obama. That’s just how much content he was able to shoot during his time.

One aspect I noticed was just how powerful and influential he has had on history, and no sequence shows that better than when they cover the Sandy Hook shooting. Just saying the name of the school immediately brings the image of Obama sitting alone in that classroom with his head in his hand. Pete Souza took that photograph. That’s the power of an image. It captures a moment in time and brings you back to that moment whenever you look at it. The Way I See It does a great job at bringing audiences back to the Obama years though its imagery. It may not offer up any solutions or tell you why things are they way they are; it’s not that kind of documentary. Like an image, it simply presents things as they were, and we must draw our own feelings from what we see.