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