Arun Chaudhary: The White House Videographer (PHOTOS)

From the early months of the 2008 campaign, and through the first two and a half years of the Obama administration, I had a unique perspective on the President of the United States. I felt sort of like President Obama's wedding videographer if every day was a wedding with the same groom, but a constantly rotating set of hysterical guests.

Although I had the privilege of being the first ever Official White House videographer, documenting the behind-the-scenes goings on of our Presidency, it wasn't until I left the administration last year that I had a chance to fully explore what it meant to be at the nexus of art, politics and media - the result of which is my book, "First Cameraman: Documenting the Obama Presidency in Real Time" (Times Books, $30).

Film and politics have been intertwined ever since the first Edison reels rattled in projection halls a century ago. But with the advent of new technologies and a new public that is hungry for images of their leaders, I was in the right place at the right time to observe the interplay of film and politics at the very highest level during these historic and challenging times.