Vermont Sen. Leahy takes shots like no one else

Nicole Gaudiano, Gannett Washington Bureau | GANNETT

WASHINGTON — As the Senate's most senior member, Patrick Leahy often finds himself in front of the camera. But he's just as likely to be the one behind the lens.

Monday will mark the 10th presidential inauguration Leahy has attended since the Carter administration. For the Vermont Democrat, it's another opportunity to get the shots no other photographer can get.

"We have some members who would do anything to get in a picture," Leahy said during an interview. "I'd rather take them. That's why I've gotten some very unique pictures."

A senator for 38 years, Leahy's rare access to world leaders, cultural icons and historical events has helped him develop quite a portfolio. His photographs have appeared in national publications, including USA TODAY, The New York Times, Newsweek and Time, and are on display at the Vermont Supreme Court in Montpelier.

Every picture has a back story.

Leahy, 72, has shot unique photos of presidents' hands as they've signed bills. He gave President Obama a framed copy of a photo showing Obama signing his first bill, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.

"It is the only picture of that nature in the world, where you can see he's halfway through the word 'Barack,' " Leahy said.

Born mostly blind in one eye, Leahy joked that you need only one eye to be a photographer. He learned composition from his parents, who owned a printing press, though he said he "can't begin to match" his son-in-law, Lawrence Jackson, an official White House photographer.

He uses whatever camera he has on hand. On Wednesday, he used a Nikon D300 to shoot photos of Obama at the White House announcing new proposals to curb gun violence, but he's also used pocket cameras.

"I relax more when I'm behind the camera than anything else," he said. "I love that."

Leahy and his wife, Marcelle, will be seated on the platform near Obama, along with other congressional leaders, during the inauguration. But he isn't really interested in the swearing-in shot.

"There's a thousand people taking those," he said. "I don't need that. I try to get the ones nobody else has."

He tries to capture personal moments at inaugurations, such as presidents speaking to supporters after the hoopla has ended, or an outgoing president and his successor exchanging a joke. The post-inauguration luncheon for Senate and House leaders will offer excellent opportunities for candid shots, he said.

Inauguration ceremonies aren't the best venues for political photography, Leahy said. He prefers capturing presidents in more relaxed settings, such as on Air Force One.

One of his favorite presidential photos is one he shot of George H.W. Bush wearing a Donald Duck cap while holding a cocktail. Leahy took the photo with a pocket camera, at Bush's request, as lawmakers met with the president in the family quarters of the White House.

" 'Pat, you must have a camera,' " Leahy remembered Bush saying. " 'Take the picture.' "

Several of Leahy's colleagues have his photos displayed in their homes.

When Vice President Biden was still a senator from Delaware, Leahy photographed him with his wife, Jill, on a bench near the Eiffel Tower when the Bidens were in Paris for a NATO meeting.

Leahy later fibbed to Biden that the photo hadn't come out — so Jill Biden could later present it to her husband as an anniversary present.

Leahy said he also uses his photos to push legislation. He's used photographs to show members of the Senate Appropriations Committee the devastation in Vermont from Hurricane Irene in 2011. And he's taken some "pretty intense" shots of landmine victims to press for foreign aid to help them.

Leahy, who chairs a subcommittee that funds help for refugees, keeps a black-and-white photo on his desk of a man in an El Salvador refugee camp. The photo, which shows the man staring viewers "right in the eye," speaks to Leahy.

"I call that my conscience picture," he said. "He's looking at me as if to say, 'Alright, if I was powerful and political and all, I could come in and talk to you. But what do you do about people like me who don't have a voice?' Every time I tend to forget about those, I look at that picture."