See a Seasoned Photojournalist’s Political Images For the First Time

The basement gallery, essentially a hallway in the basement of the Brookhaven College Library, may not be the likeliest of places to exhibit candid, behind-the-scenes, and some never-before-seen photographs of the nation’s leaders. It was in that basement, however, that Phil Huber showed up one day in 2012 to take a photography class, eager to see how students were learning the craft in the age of new media. He didn’t tell anyone he had spent four decades working as a photojournalist. He didn’t mention that he had worked for the Dallas Morning News, Sports Illustrated, and Newsweek, or that he shot Princess Diana’s wedding and photographed every president from LBJ to George W. Bush. After a few weeks, professor Daniel Rodrigue (husband of D Magazine’s award-winning photographer and editor Catherine Downes) caught on to the fact that Huber knew his way around a darkroom, and he’s been encouraging Huber to show his work to the public ever since. Now, with a historic presidential inauguration approaching, Huber has curated his first exhibition, titled “Late 20th Century Presidential Politics,” focusing on images of presidential history, particularly the “special moments that people don’t usually see.”