https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/grzxk5/christyfinal_-_12_13_22_954_AM61ezo.mp3
EPISODE SUMMARY:
As a chief news photographer at the White House, Christy Bowe has borne witness to a plethora of historic events and presidencies. In today’s episode, we sat down with Christie to discuss how she started her career in photography, photographing presidents, her experience on the January 6th insurrection, and one of her favorite photographs she’s taken.
First, we asked Christie about her journey into photography and becoming part of the White House Press Corps. She started by explaining to us the difference between the Press Corps and the White House staff photographers. Unlike the staff photographers, the White House Press Corps photographers are not employed by the White House. Due to this, they can stay through different administrations, while the staff photographers change after every presidency. For how her photography career, Christy said that the idea came to her years ago. While on a cross country trip with friends, she’d taken numerous photographs and grew interested in wanting to use photography to show her perspective on the world. She bought a camera, took photography classes, and eventually started working at a newspaper and public information office. One day, after attending a pro-choice rally using a fake press ID, Christie ran into someone with a legit press pass. She was called out for having a fake, but ended up being invited onto the press truck, an event that solidified her career in photography. Christy also praised Sarah McClendon, who helped teach Christy about photography and supported Christy when she wanted to start her own photography news service.
Having been working in the press for years, Christy has seen firsthand how the media has changed. She said that nowadays, working in the media is much more difficult than it was years ago. There is more hostility towards the media. On January 6th, Christy witnessed cameras being smashed and lit on fire and even news casters being punched in the face. Christy reflected on how when working in the Clinton administration, the press and presidents had a closer, more positive relationship. Clinton and Hillary would even throw carnivals for the press photographers and reporters. However, through each administration, Christy has noticed that the closeness has decreased. Normally, when at a bill signing, there would be a ton of media coverage and RSVPs handed out to the press. However, while attending Biden’s bill signing weeks ago, Christy saw how there were far less people, portraying how media coverage in Washington has become more limited over the years. We also asked Christy about how each presidency she’s covered has differed. She explained that some presidents, such as Clinton and Bush, would have no preference for tv versus still photography, while others favored one over the other. Some presidents would also be more willing to engage with the press than others. All of them, however, were very family oriented.
With so many events occurring at the same time, having to race from one place to the next is a difficult task. When asked about the challenge of getting to different photo sessions, Christy spoke about how during the last part of Trump’s presidency, she was kept extremely busy. Not only did she have to be in two places at once, but she would also have to run downtown to get credentials, verification of shots, and COVID tests. She even shared a story about how due to the pain from a pinched nerve in her spine, Christy ended up leaving the Impeachment trials early and missed Nancy Pelosi’s speech.
Christy was one of the press photographers present on January 6th, and she talked about how the situation turned dangerous. After hearing of the event and trump’s speech, Christy arrived and began taking photographers. However, after a group of proud boys began shouting derogatory things at her, she hid her credentials in her jacket so no one would try attacking her for being part of the press. Afterwards, the atmosphere turned more dangerous, and once the fence came down, it became out of control. At Biden’s inauguration, Christy noticed that rather than crowds of people, there was a ton of security there as a result of the danger from January 6th. Finally, we asked Christy if she had a favorite photograph that she’d taken during her career. She told us that one of the photographs that came to her mind was a picture of Clinton, Obama, and Bush walking out of the oval office together. She said that the photo reminded her that a president takes on a unique role in their leadership, and that only another president could truly understand what it is like to be in that position.
Christy Bowe
Christy has been part of the White House Press Corps since 1995. As a chief news photographer, she has overseen five presidencies. Christy’s photos have been published both nationally and internationally in publications including The Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, George, People, Rolling Stone, The Columbia Journalism Review, Deutsche Presse, La Vie, Scanpix Sweden, and GQ Germany. Her photographs have also been featured on MTV and MSNBC and in textbooks published by Wadsworth Publishing and McGraw-Hill. Christy’s book, Eyes That Speak, documents her work in Washington over the past two decades.
In this episode, we discuss…
- [0:01] Bossa Bars
- [2:51] Guest Introduction
- [4:46] Start of Interview
- [5:25] How Christie Got into Photography
- [12:43] How Working in the Press Has Changed Over the Years
- [18:08] Photographing Presidencies
- [22:59] Getting from One Photo Session to Another
- [26:37] Christy’s Experience on January 6th
- [35:31] Christy’s Favorite Photographs
- [38:14] Closing Thoughts
- [39:48] Outro
Useful Resources:
Christy’s LinkedIn I [https://www.linkedin.com/in/christy-bowe-40a6b612/]
ImageCatcher News I [http://imagecatchernews.com/index.htm]
Christy’s Instagram I [https://www.instagram.com/christy.bowe.1/?hl=en]
Eyes That Speak’s Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/ImageCatcher1/]
Christy’s Book
Eyes That Speak I [https://www.amazon.com/Eyes-That-Speak-Photographers-Journey/dp/0578300397]
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