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Out-Takes: One Photographer's White House Experience

Gallery

  • White House Executive Chef Walter Scheib

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    White House Executive Chef Walter Scheib posed for the author in the White House kitchen with his assistants Rachel Walker, John Moeller, Cris Comerford, and Adam Collick, September 2001.

    White House Historical Association
  • Flower arrangement

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    Between appointments for portrait photographs, the author Maggie Knaus was asked to take a quick shot of cream-colored roses used by the florist to make centerpieces for the White House dinner celebrating the two-hundredth anniversary of the mansion. The marble capped wall near the North Portico provided an available and appropriate backdrop.

    White House Historical Association
  • Views of the White House

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    Views of the White House from the north taken just after Christmas in 2005 for use in a new edition of The Living White House.

    White House Historical Association
  • President George W. Bush's dog

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    Barney, President George W. Bush’s Scottie, poses on the South Lawn near the putting green for the photographer in 2003.

    White House Historical Association
  • White House pastry chef Roland Mesnier

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    Work on The White House: An Illustrated History included portraits of Roland Mesnier, the White House pastry chef, in his kitchen.

    White House Historical Association
  • White House florist Nancy Clarke

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    Work on The White House: An Illustrated History included portraits of Nancy Clarke, the White House florist, who stopped in the course of inspecting her work in the Diplomatic Reception Room, 2002.

    White House Historical Association
  • Nancy Theis

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    Knaus also photographed Nancy Theis, director of student correspondence, and Dale Haney, horticulturalist, for The White House: An Illustrated History. Theis posed beside the day’s mail, and Haney sat on the South Lawn with Spot and Barney, President Bush’s dogs, 2002.

    White House Historical Association
  • Slide film images

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    An early 2002 photo session focused on the process of preparing the rooms of the State Floor for public tours. Here the Blue Room is vacuumed, the carpet is rolled, and stanchions are set up.

    White House Historical Association
  • Secret Service agent on the North Portico

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    A Secret Service agent stands guard on the North Portico; the press reports from the news location, then nicknamed “Pebble Beach,” beside the North Drive (Pebble Beach is now usually called Stonehenge for the new flagstone paving); views of the South Portico, the Rose Garden, and the horseshoe pit; President Bush’s Scottie Barney ambitiously challenges a soccer ball on the South Lawn; and views of the sprinklers on the South Lawn.

    White House Historical Association
  • Views of the children's garden

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    Views of the White House Children’s Garden, including the fishpond and children’s hand and footprints, 2002.

    White House Historical Association

About this Gallery

Professional photographer Maggie Knaus was commissioned by the White House Historical Association to document numerous events at the White House. The largest grouping of her photographs was taken to illustrate The White House: An Illustrated History, published in 2004. This book, written for students by Catherine O’Neill Grace, is a behind-the-scenes glimpse into what it takes to run the White House on a daily basis. The photographs were intended to document the people who work at the White House and keep it going. Here are a sample of the film and slides she took during her assignments. Read more about her experiences during her photo shoots here.

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