Nadav Kander and Obama's People.

Wasn't Tuesday a great day? Like many, many people Studio were excited to watch Barack Obama finally being sworn in as President of the United States of America.

I had spent the day at the Norwich University College of the Arts, providing tutorials for Year 3 students – as they all booked in for their 10 minute slots (which always over run) I charged one student with the task to make sure that one mac in the studio was ready with a live news feed of the inauguration at 5pm, our time. I'm glad that I didn't miss it – watching the two million spectators that flocked to Capitol Hill, Washington to witness this historic moment. Many of whom were excited and emotional that potentially, here was a President who could make a significant change for the better. So, no pressure then.



And here are the people behind Obama – the guys who will hopefully help to affect a positive change to all of our lives. This Sunday (25.01.09), the New York Times will publish 52 full page photographs of Obama's government team who were shot last December by photographer Nadav Kander. He was an interesting choice to shoot these portraits, as he is famous for his work in advertising for brands such as Nike and Levi's.

But his landscape and portrait photography are worthy too, though sometimes have a sense of sadness and emotional detachment. What I like is, that when he takes a the picture of a celebrity, there is no glamour – just their character and life experience engrained on their face. But would Annie Leibovitz (who took the recent portrait of the Queen) have taken a more flattering picture? Maybe. Then again, these are politicians and each of these portraits convey a stark honesty.



If want to see all of these portraits, click here – then familarise yourself with the individuals, who together with Obama shoulder a remarkable responsibility and the expectation of millions – and don't miss the Back Story, there you'll hear the background to this prestigious project. The behind the scenes images are cool too.

And because I know you want to, visit Nadav Kander's site here.