White House photographer Pete Souza's favourite photos of Barack Obama

Pete Souza has been the official White House photographer throughout Barack Obama's presidency. In the eight years since Obama's inauguration, Souza has taken around two million photos of the Commander-in-Chief, capturing both historic occasions and intimate behind-the-scenes moments with his family . As we bid farewell to Obama, we share some of Souza's own favourite images of the 44th US President, together with the photographer's captions. You can see more of Souza's official White House photos here and here.

20 January 2009: "President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama share a private moment in a freight elevator at the Inaugural Ball in Washington."

21 January 2009: "President Barack Obama sits in the Oval Office on his first day in office"

5 April 2009: "First Lady Michelle Obama waits as President Barack Obama, background, signs the guestbook upon their arrival to Prague Castle in the Czech Republic"

5 May 2009: "President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden wait for their lunch during an unannounced visit to Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington, Virginia"

26 August 2009: "President Barack Obama plays basketball with White House staffers while on vacation at Martha's Vineyard"

12 November 2009: "President Barack Obama greets US troops at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, before he departed to Tokyo, Japan."

29 January 2010: "A view of the President's chair in the Cabinet Room. The plaques on the chairs of the President and the Vice President are noted with the date of the inauguration; the plaques on the chairs of each Cabinet member are noted with the date of their confirmation by the Senate."

8 August 2010: "We were walking through a locker room at the University of Texas when White House Trip Director Marvin Nicholson stopped to weigh himself on a scale. Unbeknownst to him, the President was stepping on the back of the scale, as Marvin continued to slide the scale lever. Everyone but Marvin was in on the joke."

25 September 2010: "On a Saturday, the President listens during a conference call in the Situation Room on the Middle East negotiations."

1 May 2011: "Much has been made of this photo, showing the President and Vice President and the national security team monitoring in real time the mission against Osama bin Laden. The White House Situation Room is actually comprised of several different conference rooms. The majority of the time, the President convenes meetings in the large conference room with assigned seats. But to monitor this mission, the group moved into the much smaller conference room. The President chose to sit next to Brigadier General Marshall B. "Brad" Webb, Assistant Commanding General of Joint Special Operations Command, who was point man for the communications taking place. With so few chairs, others just stood at the back of the room. I was jammed into a corner of the room with no room to move. Seated in this picture from left to right: Vice President Biden, the President, Brig. Gen. Webb, Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Standing, from left, are: Admiral Mike Mullen, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; National Security Advisor Tom Donilon; Chief of Staff Bill Daley; Tony Blinken, National Security Advisor to the Vice President; Audrey Tomason Director for Counterterrorism; John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Please note: a classified document seen in front of Sec. Clinton has been obscured."

23 May 2011: "This was one of the great trips of the year, albeit brief, when we visited Ireland in May. This rope line in Moneygall was particularly fun as people reacted so jubilantly to the President and First Lady. It was somewhat unusual, though, in that the sun kept coming in and out, and at times it was even pouring rain."

24 April 2012: "We were backstage at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill for the President's appearance on 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.' The President let out a big laugh as he was being briefed by the producers and Mr. Fallon on the 'Slow Jam the News' segment."

20 May 2012: "'How cool is this,' the President said after he threw a football at Soldier Field following the NATO working dinner in Chicago. I think he was especially excited to be on the home turf of his beloved Chicago Bears."

18 October 2012: "The President ties his white tie before the Alfred E. Smith dinner in New York. Although the dinner is an annual event, every four years, the two presidential nominees attend the dinner only a few weeks before the election."

14 December 2012: "The President reacts as John Brennan briefs him on the details of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The President later said during a TV interview that this was the worst day of his Presidency."

14 March 2013: "The President sips a cup of tea while talking on the phone in the Oval Office with President Xi Jinping of China. I converted the digital file to black and white to accentuate the three presidential aides in the foreground."

22 March 2013: "The President was visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, and others. When the President asked a question about the cityscape in the background, the sunlight lit up his hands adding another dimension to this photograph."

25 April 2013: "Four Presidents. One funny story. Presidents Carter, Clinton, Obama and Bush wait backstage to be introduced during the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas."

20 September 2013: "A Ford truck was stationed near the podium while the President delivered remarks on the economy at the Ford Kansas City Stamping Plant in Liberty, Missouri. After the speech, I positioned myself near the truck guessing that the President might lean over the hood of the truck to shake hands with Ford employees. Instead he opened the passenger door and slid over to the driver's seat so he could get even closer to the employees."

15 October 2013: "The juxtaposition of all the hands made this an interesting photograph following the President's meeting with the House Democratic Leadership."

4 November 2013: "The President is reflected in a glass table top during a meeting in the Oval Office."

9 June 2014: "The President sits for a 3D portrait being produced by the Smithsonian Institution. There were so many cameras and strobe lights flashing but the end result was kind of cool."

29 July 2014: "Sometimes you get lucky as a photographer. The President was greeting the crowd outside Arthur Bryant's Barbeque in Kansas City. As he began talking to a young boy, actually giving him some life advice, someone's smart phone briefly illuminated the President's face. Without this light, the photograph wouldn't have been nearly as successful."

31 July 2014: "It's true that the President has a calm demeanor. Not always though. Here the President expresses his dismay at comments from a Republican member of Congress discussing the administration's policy in Syria during a meeting with the chairs and ranking members of congressional national security committees. This frank exchange was later reported in the press."

16 December 2014: "The President talks on the phone with President Raúl Castro of Cuba in the Oval Office. The next day, the President announced the U.S. would restore full relations with Cuba after more than 50 years."

17 April 2015: "Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes needed some assistance with his wardrobe so the President joined Brian Mosteller, Director of Oval Office Operations, and Personal Aide Ferial Govashiri in helping to spruce him up."

6 June 2015: "The President hugs Vice President Joe Biden after delivering a eulogy during the funeral mass for Beau Biden at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Wilmington, Del."

9 June 2015: "After a group photograph with Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Space Shuttle Columbia alumni, the President helped some of the participants move a sofa back in place in the Oval Office."

21 October 2015: "When Vice President Biden decided not to run for President, he asked to make the announcement in the Rose Garden. The President looked over remarks as the morning sun splashed through the Oval Office. In all honesty, as I was making this photograph, I didn't know yet the Vice President's decision. But either way, I thought it was important to symbolically include the President's chair in my frame. In retrospect, I soon realized that if he had decided to run for President, the Vice President would have made the announcement from somewhere other than at the White House."

16 March 2016: "It just happened spontaneously one afternoon as the President began dancing in the Outer Oval with Personal Aide Ferial Govashiri. As I recall, he was helping her practice for her upcoming wedding."

10 November 2016: "Two days after the election, the President meets with President-elect Donald Trump."