Award-winning photographer Amanda Lucidon spoke last week at the Brooklyn Public Library Macon Branch, 361 Lewis Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, presenting an exhibition of 10 photographs from her upcoming book Chasing Light: Michelle Obama Through the Lens of a White House Photographer.
The book brings together photographs of the former first lady that Lucidon took, as well as behind-the-scenes memories of her four years as a White House Photographer. Lucidon showed several of her favorite images, explained the challenges and unique access she found as a White House Photographer, and signed books for sale at the library.
“I wanted the pictures to feel candid, and intimate, and show you something you don’t usually get to see,” said Lucidon, who was the only female photographer at the White House during the four years.
She explained that, as a White House photographer, she learned to be quick and mindful, focused solely on catching the “decisive” moments. Her favorite photographs all seem to have something in common, a kind of warm spontaneity that dissolves the official nature of the job.
Lucidon captures Mrs. Obama speaking to young female students in Liberia, reflecting alone in Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and hugging her daughters on the Great Wall of China.
Many of the photographs are just as much centered on the reactions of the people interacting with the first lady, the excitement of children and students upon meeting her.
“It would be easy for me in my time at the White House, to just focus on Mrs. Obama all the time, just focus on her face,” said Lucidon. “But then I would be missing all these wonderful reactions.”
Some of the photographs are surprisingly intimate. In one, the first lady speaks at a podium, though the angle shows that she has slipped off her heels, revealing blue toenails. In another, Mrs. Obama leans into President Obama before a photoshoot—a brief interaction Lucidon says she almost missed.
“Photos are a bridge, as a connection. Because if you extract them from the photo, and you put yourself in it: isn’t that the way we all want to feel when we’re in love?” said Lucidon. “And if we can connect over these things, I think we can understand each other better.”
One of ten children, Lucidon calls her education “scrappy,” adding that she carved out a photojournalism degree in her home-state of Pennsylvania. She took unpaid internships and worked her way up until she came to DC. There, she balanced freelance work and personal projects until the opportunity came to work at the White House.
Above all, she says she wants her book to be accessible. It is intentionally smaller than a coffee table book, lightweight, and without a dust-jacket. Lucidon said that she wanted it to be affordable, and even accessible for people who might not afford it, through Public Libraries.
A portion of the proceeds of the book will go to the Turnaround Arts Program, an organization using the arts to create success in struggling schools.
“I recognize that I wouldn’t have ever had the chance to walk in the gates of the White House, had it not been for the arts. Had it not been for a teacher who said ‘hey, you’re really good at this,’” said Lucidon. “And to know that someone believed in me, and that a person of a low income background could have the opportunity to walk through the gates of the White House. I wanted to be able to inspire young people in the same situation.”
