Here’s the first family’s first official photo, all big smiles and informal poses. But what’s interesting is not the coatless president or the absence of the family dog, Bo. It’s that the photographer was not the daily official White House photographer, but financially challenged celebrity shutterbug Annie Leibovitz. It’s unclear if or how much she was paid (her daily commercial rate is $250,000, according to New York magazine), but she could use the work. She made headlines recently because her financial problems have put a lifetime of work on the line. She must find a way to repay a $24 million loan or risk losing the rights to every picture she’s ever taken. Leibovitz took the picture Sept. 1 in the Green Room of the White House.
The president and first lady are shown smiling, with the arms of their daughters, Sasha and Malia, draped around them. The picture was taken as the first family sat in an informal pose in the White House’s Green Room.
Leibovitz has frequented the White House in the last few months for a series of portraits for Vanity Fair. According to the magazine, the photographer’s relationship with the first family goes back to 2004, when Barack Obama was running for the U.S. Senate. She shot his family at the campaign headquarters, long before he was in the running for the presidency.
