David goes to Washington
October 08, 2009 · Jake Krob

Wherever the vice president goes, David Lienemann follows. From Chicago to Iraq, the Cornell alumnus and former Sun freelancer has been documenting with his camera nearly every public move of vice president Joe Biden. He serves as Biden's official photographer, working with four other full-timers in the White House who cover President Barack Obama and the first lady.

A 2005 graduate of Cornell College, Lienemann's road to the White House advanced much like the Obama-Biden campaign did - through the Iowa Caucuses.

With a portfolio of work from three newspaper internships, Lienemann canvassed photo editors at numerous newspapers, and called "friends of friends" who were editors at various publications, to cover the Presidential campaign.

"Getting the first assignment or two was always the hardest, but once you demonstrate that you can produce the kind of work the particular paper or editor is looking for, and that you can get work in on deadline, then you're usually on their list of people to call," he said.

He followed candidates around, taking photos for the Associated Press, Getty Images, the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, USA Today and the Guardian.

When the caucuses ended, Lienemann traveled in Africa for a month, then landed in New Mexico. There, he continued freelancing for wire services and newspapers, as well as shooting weddings in a documentary style. When Biden was announced as the vice presidential nominee, and the Obama-Biden ticket won, Lienemann did as he'd done to get freelance newspaper jobs - he began contacting those he'd met on the campaign trail, showing interest in working for the vice president.

"I met then Senator Biden multiple times during the campaign in Iowa - he was always friendly and personable at events," Lienemann said.

And he made for great photos, Lienemann said: "Unlike some of the rallies held by other candidates, Biden's were usually very open, free-form events with great access from a photo perspective."

In early March, Lienemann received a call to fly out to Washington, D.C., for a week. The work turned into five weeks, then a full-time job in the White House Photo Office.

Lienemann's assignment is to document the activities of the vice president. Every image he takes is captioned and archived in an internal White House database. Some are used on the whitehouse.gov website and others are released to individuals pictured in the photos. In addition, there's a collection of prints that hang in the West Wing each month that Lienemann says "showcase a few of my favorite photographs each month."

Lienemann typically works 12-hour days, Monday through Friday, and a few hours on the weekend. His schedule, he said, is the vice president's schedule. He travels often and has been to everywhere from New York and Chile to California and Baghdad (twice).

A native of the St. Louis suburb Webster Groves, Lienemann's interest in photography began in elementary school when his father gave him a used Pentax K1000 SLR film camera. His senior year in high school, he worked on the yearbook and met Time magazine photographer Steve Liss, who's had nearly 50 of his photos featured on the cover of Time.

Lienemann said Liss "encouraged me and helped me develop my eye for photographs."

At Cornell, Lienamann focused on photography, shooting for the Cornellian newspaper and Royal Purple yearbook. He also freelanced for the Sun and held a work-study position at Cornell's college communications office. Before freelancing leading up to the presidential election, Lienemann completed internships at the Gazette in Cedar Rapids, the Bucks County Courier Times in Pennsylvania, and the Albuquerque Journal.