Just a Good Conversation: Shealah Craighead Part 2

Shealah Craighead is an American government photographer who served as the Chief Official White House Photographer for President Donald Trump. She was the second female chief photographer in White House history, after Sharon Farmer in 1998. Craighead was official photographer to former First Lady Laura Bush in the administration of George W. Bush. Shealah grew up in Connecticut where she worked in her parents photo lab. Craighead attended Belmont University and earned a BFA from Lesley University in 2002. After college, she worked as a freelance photographer for the Boston Globe, Associated Press, and Getty Images. In 2005, she worked for David Bohrer, the official photographer for Vice President Dick Cheney. In 2017, Craighead was named the official White House photographer for Donald Trump.The Trump administration employed a total of four photographers with different specialties including fashion, military, and administration.

Craighead photographed Nancy Pelosi standing to address a seated Trump in an October 2019 meeting at the White House, which attracted media attention. She later remarked that Trump liked to "control the lighting, the production, and the show basically", and that he preferred posed over candid photographs.

After he left office, Trump used many photographs taken by Craighead to produce a book, but did not credit her work or that of other photographers.

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