It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the state of America. It’s easy to believe that what we are witnessing is normal and that things have always been this chaotic.

The truth is that powerful leadership was in place not all that long ago. Don’t believe me? There are pictures to prove it.

THE WAY I SEE IT tells the story of Barack Obama’s American presidency from 2008 to 2016. Specifically, the film looks at his leadership through the lens of Chief Official White House Photographer, Pete Souza. Throughout Obama’s term, Souza was always in “the room where it happened”. Sometimes that room was The Oval Office…sometimes that room was a high school gym. No matter the room, the town, or even the country, Souza went where Obama went.

Souza captured every moment worth capturing in sweet and sometimes startling fashion.

In any ordinary time, the photographic work of Pete Souza would garner precious little attention. His images would fill a coffee table book sold in upscale home furnishing stores or dot political documentaries about the 44th presidency. These, of course, are not ordinary times.

As Barack Obama’s successor grew increasingly distrustful, disturbing, demeaning, demonic, and disgusting, Souza became compelled to raise the profile of his work. Words and actions by the current American president were quickly lobbed back with an inspiring counterpoint on how Barack Obama would handle the same situation.

Somehow – there is always an image waiting to provide a response.

THE WAY I SEE IT does firmly nod in the direction of all this shade, however, it is more concerned with showing the power of the still image. In an age where we are documenting our every waking move, we are doing so in quite an ephemeral way. Souza, meanwhile, with his camera, his patience, his timing, and his well-honed eye, he documents a moment like Obama’s final flight away from Washington DC with more power than even the most viral tweet.

In an era where the truth is under attack, THE WAY I SEE IT is a testament to the ways the camera doesn’t lie. Without comment, Souza’s images fill the viewer with feelings of empathy, joy, reflection, stoicism, and love. These feelings and many more are what a dignified head of state should embody – and what Barack Obama clearly did.