The former White House photographer and personal photographer to President George H. W. Bush, David Valdez, spoke to Tarleton State University about his experiences and life as a photojournalist on Monday, Nov. 18.

“People always ask ‘how did you get that job?’ and one of the things I have learned over the years is just being bold and asking for a job,” Valdez said.

Valdez was born in Alice, TX and grew up in Albuquerque, N.M. After high school, he enlisted in the United States Air Force where he was trained as a photographer.

After receiving an Honorable discharge, Valdez earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in journalism and minor in radio and television production from the University of Maryland.

In the process of going to college, Valdez was employed by the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. From this job, he became Chief Photographer for the United States Chamber of Commerce.

In 1983, Valdez wrote a “cold letter” to the press secretary of Vice President George H. W. Bush introducing himself. He was called in for an interview with the Vice President himself.

“I was called back for an interview with the vice president of the United States, and it never really occurred to me that I was really going to a job interview with the Vice President of the United States until I walked into the office – and there’s the Vice President of the United States,” Valdez said.

In 1988, when Bush was elected President of the United States, he appointed Valdez to the position of Director of the White House Photo Office and personal photographer of the President.

“I actually enjoyed working for the vice president rather than the president because it was a smaller staff and you could move around,” Valdez said.

Wherever the President was, Valdez was right beside him.  He traveled to 75 countries and all 50 states with President Bush. 

“I would go around every day with President Bush and I would photograph him,” Valdez said. “I would get two to three schedules; a monthly schedule, which gave us a sense of trips, a weekly schedule, and a daily schedule, which was minute by minute. So if the first 15 minutes were a CIA briefing I would go in and photograph the CIA briefing, take the roll and put it in a bag and go over to the white house communications agency. They would process the film and they would keep the negatives and give me a proof sheet and then I could print.”

According to Valdez, a short day of work was 12 hours. He would photograph every moment in the President’s life: personal and professional.

“He would wake up early and run around the south lawn and I would be there for that because if he fell or had a heart attack I was going to be the guy to take a picture,” Valdez said.

While at the White House, Valdez used film to develop the photographs. He shot 64,000 rolls of 36-exposure film, which are now displayed and stored at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas.

In 1993, Valdez left the White House and wrote another “cold letter” to the Walt Disney Company, asking if he could work for them. They did not have a job for him, but they made a position available. Valdez became the General Manager of the Walt Disney Attractions and ensured the creative directions of the Advertising Photography and Digital Imaging Departments. He worked in advertising photography at Disneyland California, Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland.

“When we lost the election in ’92, that’s when I went to Walt Disney Company and I was in charge of advertisement and publicity photography for Disney,” Valdez said. “Then we started creating images of things that didn’t exist for Disney Cruise Line and Animal Kingdom Park that were being built and we needed images for a brochure. So we were creating digital images and I got that started at the time when Disney partnered with Pixar and was coming out with Toy Story. The whole idea of creating digital images was kind of new, but I embraced it.”

Many of Valdez’s photographs have been published in national and international publications such as Life, Newsweek, Time, U.S. News and World Report, Forbes, Paris Match and People. Valdez also posts his photos on Flickr and Instagram. According to Valdez, the National Geographic Traveler saw his photos online and contacted him to run a photo in the next February/ March issue.

“There’s a lot of debate about photographers saying ‘if you put that up [online], someone’s going to steal it’, but there are billions of photos out there and the chances of your one photo being stolen is a real slim chance,” Valdez said. “I get these random request for photos and that seems to help me. I’ve been very active and still do a lot of work.”

Valdez speaks at prestigious organizations such as the National Press Club, the Eddie Adams Workshop, the Smithsonian, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the White House News Photographers Assciation.

“Taking the initiative to walk up to someone and say ‘hey can I be your intern?’ or ‘can I take this job?'” Valdez said. “I told you that when I went to work for the vice president, I wrote a cold letter to the vice presidents’ secretary introducing myself, and when I left the White House and went to the Walt Disney company I wrote a cold letter to the head of the marketing at the company to introduce myself. They said they didn’t have a job but we will create a position for you. So it’s just being bold enough to go ask.”