From Vienna to White House: Yoichi Okamoto and the American Century</span> — Austrian Marshall Plan Center for European Studies

Exhibition Opening

The Austrian Marshall Plan Center for European Studies at The University of New Orleans opened a photo exhibit showcasing the iconic Presidential photographer Yoichi Okamoto on March 14, 2024. The exhibition, From Vienna to White House: Yoichi Okamaoto and the American Century, chronicles Okamoto’s life and work from his days in post-WWII Vienna to his time as Lyndon B. Johnson's Chief White House Photographer and is on display at the university's Fine Arts Gallery.

The exhibition was produced in cooperation with the Austrian National Library, the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library, the Embassy of Austria in the United States and with support from the Botstiber Institute for Austrian-American Studies.

The opening was attended by university leadership including President Dr. Kathy Johnson, Provost Dr. Darrell Kruger, and Dean of the College Liberal Arts Dr. Samuel Gladden. Remarks and background information were delivered by Center Austria's Director Emeritus, Prof. Guenter Bischof, and the Director of the Picture Archives at the Austrian National Library, Dr. Hans Petschar.

This occasion marsk the third showing of the exhibition after its run at the Austrian National Library and its recent opening at the Embassy of Austria in Washington, DC.

Yoichi Okamoto served as President Lyndon B. Johnson’s official White House photographer from 1964 to 1968. Considered a trailblazer of his craft, he was first to gain unlimited access to the President as condition of his employment. This kind of access was unprecedented and allowed him to capture intimate and candid moments in history, resulting in never-before seen photographs .

During his tenure at The White House, Okamoto took some 375,000 photos documenting President Johnson and his administration, which is considered today as the best-documented visual presidency in U.S. history. According to historian Greg Robinson, “his powerful portraits show the president in a variety of moods, and reveal the burden of the office on the man, especially during the Vietnam War. They go beyond political propaganda and shine as both art and history.”

Before coming to The White House, Okamoto served as head of the Pictorial Division of the U.S. Information Agency in Vienna, Austria from 1946 until 1954, producing a massive pictorial record not only of the the country’s reconstruction after World War II, but of Austrian life at large. This includes intimate documentation of Vienna’s post-war cultural life. Okamoto was honored by he Austrian Photographic Society for his “Contributions to the Advancement of Photography” in Austria.

This exhibition explores the history documented by Okamoto in his masterful photographs s from his arrival in Europe to his work at The White House and celebrates the art he created in the process.

This exhibition is produced in cooperation with Embassy of Austria, the Austrian National Library, the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library, and with generous support from the Botstiber Institute for Austrian-American Studies.

All photos by Yoichi Okamoto, courtesy Austrian National Library and Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library.