48 Hours with Obama: TIME’s Person of the Year 2012 by Callie Shell

3 minute read

Callie Shell has photographed President Barack Obama, TIME’s 2012 Person of the Year, countless times before. But for a POY feature shoot that is both grand and personal, Shell herself is humble. “I think people are sometimes surprised by how nervous photographers can get making images that can really show who the person is and what they are going through,” she says.

Shell has covered Barack Obama since 2004, and her quiet but steady lens has documented his development as a politician, father, and president, as well as his first, and now second, Person of the Year honors. This collection offers an intimate look at the President on the cusp of his second term. Shell traveled with President Obama on POY assignment for TIME earlier this month. She met him at the White House on December 10 and flew with him on Air Force One to Michigan, where they visited Daimler Detroit Diesel, and back to Washington later in the week, where the President and First Lady attended a holiday party.

(See more: Barack Obama, 2012 Person of the Year )

Shell first met then-State-Senator Barack Obama in Chicago while she was covering Senator John Kerry’s presidential run in 2004, and Obama introduced Kerry at a campaign event. “We got to hang out in the hallway, and I just got to watch him and realize how truly gracious and kind he was to everyone around him,” she says, remembering how he connected with everyone who walked through the hall. Like Shell, Obama was also away from his young children and spouse. “Family is really important to him, family is really important to me,” she says. “We both always told people that we married up.”

Soon after that, she was reviewing photographs she had taken of Obama sitting on a chair. Shell, who was a White House photographer during Bill Clinton’s presidency, observed many Clinton-level qualities in Obama, especially when it came to relating to people. That’s when she first thought to herself, “He would run for president.”

On the one hand, Shell has noticed ways Obama has changed over the years she has photographed him. The seriousness of the Oval Office has made its mark. But on the other hand, she sees that his core has not changed at all—he still tries to make those around him feel at ease. Last year, Shell was recovering from some health issues. “He called me to see how I was doing,” she remembers. “I didn’t do it consciously, but I stood up to talk to him. After all, he is the president.”


Callie Shell is a South Carolina-based photographer who has covered Obama since 2004. See more of her work for TIME here.

Elizabeth Dias is a reporter in TIME’s Washington bureau. Find her on Twitter @elizabethjdias.


The following photographs were taken between Dec. 10 - 12, 2012.Surrounded by a morning fog, President Barack Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base en-route to Redford, Mich.Callie Shell for TIME
President Obama works in his private office aboard Air Force One.Callie Shell for TIME
Arriving at the airport in Redford, Mich., Obama greets local officials and a small crowd on the tarmac.Callie Shell for TIME
The Presidential motorcade heads to the Daimler Detroit Diesel plant in Redford, Mich. Callie Shell for TIME
Obama chats with White House Trip Director Marvin Nicholson before the event.Callie Shell for TIME
The President shakes hands with members of the audience before speaking at the Daimler Detroit Diesel plant.Callie Shell for TIME
After speaking to the crowd and touring the plant's production facilities, Obama prepares to depart.Callie Shell for TIME
Residents in Redford, Mich., lined the road to catch a glimpse of Obama's motorcade.Callie Shell for TIME
After re-boarding Air Force One, the President meets with Michigan Congressman John Conyers Jr., Michigan Senator Carl Levin and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.Callie Shell for TIME
As dusk falls, the President arrives back at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.Callie Shell for TIME
The President carries his tea before a senior staff briefing in the Oval Office.Callie Shell for TIME
The President's BlackBerry, briefing and cup of tea on his Oval Office desk.Callie Shell for TIME
President Obama, Vice President Biden and Chief of Staff Jack Lew listen during a policy meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.Callie Shell for TIME
In the hallways outside the Roosevelt Room, Obama and Biden share a brief word following the policy meeting.Callie Shell for TIME
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama descend the White House staircase to a packed audience attending a Christmas party.Callie Shell for TIME
At the end of the day, with many folders and briefings in hand, Obama heads along the Colonnade, adorned with Christmas decorations, to the Residence of the White House.Callie Shell for TIME

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