Eric Draper served as President Bush’s chief photographer for the entire eight years of his presidency, photographing him daily in his activities at the office, abroad and in his personal life. Draper was named Special Assistant to the President, and is the first White House photographer to be named a commissioned officer to a U.S. president. Also during his tenure, Draper directed the photographic and archival conversion of the White House Photo Office from film to digital and took nearly 1 million photos documenting the presidency.

Prior to joining the White House, Draper was West Regional Enterprise Photographer for the Associated Press. In eight years with the AP, Draper covered an array of domestic and international news and sports including presidential campaigns, devastating natural disasters around the globe, civil unrest in third world countries, refugee crises abroad, five Olympic games, two World Cups and many NBA, NFL and MLB championships. Draper has also worked as a staff photographer for The Seattle Times, the Pasadena Star-News and the Albuquerque Tribune.

Draper is currently a freelance political, corporate, and editorial photographer based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico where he lives with his wife and three dogs. His clients include the George W. Bush Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the Mayo Clinic, the New York Times, Reuters, Getty Images and individual clients, including many happy brides and grooms. He is an obsessive LA Laker fan.