Barack Before Obama: Life Before the Presidency―An Intimate Photographic Journey of the Man Who Became Our 44th President, from the Lens of a Close Friend and Aide

A People Pick of the Week One of USA Today’s 5Books Not to MissOne of Forbes’ 5 Books toRead in DecemberA personal, intimate photographic celebration ofPresident Barack Obama, featuring over 200 rare and never-before seen imagesfrom the years prior to his presidency, from photographer, friend, and formeraide David Katz In 2004, David Katz worked alongside then Senate-hopefulBarack Obama as a photographer and personal aide. He spent approximately sixdays a week alongside the future president as Obama campaigned across downstateIllinois, and the two developed a close, professional, and personalrelationship. What began as a long-shot Senate run culminated with the electionof America’s first African American president in 2008, which Katz alsophotographed. During this time, David was never without his camera,capturing quotidian scenes from the life of a man who would soon become knownthe world over: a dad playing with his small daughters; a young unknownpolitician walking the streets of New York by himself with no one noticing; adevoted husband lovingly making faces at his wife in an elevator. In 2004,after seeing the unique and touching photographs David had amassed, Annie Leibovitzgave him some advice: “Don’t release these photos of Obama for at least fifteenyears. They need time to age.” Now, fifteen years later, Barack Before Obama is thetreasury of these photographs. Pulled from an archive of more than ninetythousand images, every photograph in this volume is like nothing that has beenseen before: the ease in which David captures the spirit and essence of one ofour most beloved first families is unparalleled, and it is in this affectionatefamiliarity that his photographs sing. Warm, engaging captions tell the storiesbehind the photos—the surprise meeting with Nelson Mandela, the back roomconversation before the rally, the emotion after sending one of the Obamas’daughters off to school—bringing readers closer than ever to the spirit andmotivation behind the extraordinary man who became our forty-fourth president.Barack Before Obama is a unique collection of images illustrating the making ofan American icon. A moving document of an historic moment, it’s the perfect giftfor all those who want to remember it.   Read more