Longtime White House photographerPete Souzacaptured countless behind-the-scenes images during the Reagan and Obama administrations. In a new photo book chronicling his time working under PresidentBarack Obama, Souza offers a glimpse at everyday life in the White House — and allows readers to get to know the tireless (and funny) staff who worked hand in hand with the 44th U.S. president.

Biden and Obama’s Close Bond

Obama White House photographer’s new book, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside the Presidency

2013: Vice President Joe Biden holds President Obama’s hand during a prayer.

Oval Office Director Gets Silly with the First Dogs

Obama White House photographer’s new book, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside the Presidency

Brian Mosteller tries to entice Bo and Sunny to play in the snow in 2016.

Meryl Streep Looks Toward the Heavens

Obama White House photographer’s new book, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside the Presidency

Holding the arm of a military social aide in the Blue Room, actress Meryl Streep looks up as she is about to be introduced as one of the Kennedy Center Honorees in 2011. Streep recalls how she was “hoping that [her] parents were watching from far beyond this world.”

POTUS Gets a Visitor

Obama White House photographer’s new book, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside the Presidency

Nicholas Tamarin, son of longtime aide Nate Tamarin, heads into the Oval in 2010. A couple of years later, Nicholas would become the subject of one of my more iconic pictures when he dressed up as Spider-Man on Halloween and “zapped” the President into his web in this very same location.

Famously Cheerful Staffer Serves as Human Shield

Obama White House photographer’s new book, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside the Presidency

Advance staffer Brandon Lepow acts as a human barrier for the White House press corps as they record the President’s visit with a middle-class family in their living room in Seattle in 2010. Brandon later became a regional communications director. In 2013, he was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the midst of planning his wedding. The entire staff mourned his death in 2015 after his two-year battle.

President Obama Takes a Break

Obama White House photographer’s new book, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside the Presidency

Brian Mosteller holds up a mini basketball hoop at the doorway to the Cabinet Room while the President takes a shot in 2010.

A Strict No-Phone Policy

Obama White House photographer’s new book, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside the Presidency

BlackBerrys and smart phones were not allowed in any meeting rooms in the West Wing, so it was common to see devices piled up outside the room with sticky notes identifying whose was whose.

Secret Service Keeps Watch from Above

Obama White House photographer’s new book, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside the Presidency

With high-powered binoculars, an agent monitors the outlying boundaries of an event in Capitol Square in Concord, New Hampshire, in 2012.

The State of the Union Address Is Revised

Obama White House photographer’s new book, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside the Presidency

Chief speechwriter Jon Favreau holds the latest draft of the 2012 State of the Union speech. The President edited speeches with a black Uni-Ball Vision Elite rollerball pen.

Faces Light Up at the Sight of Obama

Obama White House photographer’s new book, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside the Presidency

Members of Girls Nation in the East Room awaiting the arrival of President Obama for a group photo.

source: people.com