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Cameraman

What began as a White House internship for Grant Miller turned into a thriving career of capturing the right moments.

Not many people can say they have photographed President George and Laura Bush, Pope Benedict XVI, and the Dalai Lama. But Grant Miller has. He’s also photographed every president from Jimmy Carter onward, except for Ronald Reagan. And, at a charity event for Hurricane Harvey several years ago, he was one of very few people in the room with all five former living presidents at that time. In short, Miller’s career as an in-demand photographer has led him to meet world-renowned politicians, foreign dignitaries, and powerful businesspeople. But, more than a decade ago, he fell into photography by accident.

Growing up, Miller didn’t own a nice camera. It wasn’t until a college study abroad trip to the Galápagos Islands that he bought a camera and found he enjoyed taking photos of his travels. That sparked an interest, which he pursued with photography classes in his extra schedule time around his psychology degree. Still, photography was merely a hobby — until his professor told him about a photo internship at the White House. “At the time, I had no idea the President even had photographers,” Miller says.

Thinking he didn’t have a shot, he applied anyway. He got the internship.

In 2007, Miller went to Washington, D.C., for the three-month-long internship, with plans to come back to Georgia for grad school and a master’s degree in counseling. But at the end of that program, he was offered a full-time job in the photo office to finish out the Bush administration. “I didn’t really think about it,” Miller says. “I mean, it was the chance of a lifetime.”

For the next two years, Miller photographed for the Bushes until everyone lost their jobs with the change of administration. But he didn’t step away from photography. Instead, he moved to Dallas in 2010 — and eventually became the Bushes’ personal photographer, shooting family and speaking engagements and then events for the George W. Bush Presidential Center as it was being built.

“That kind of helped grow my business organically,” Miller says. “These corporations and companies would hire him to come speak, and then he would recommend that they hire me to be the photographer for their event. And then I’d build relationships with these corporations. That’s pretty much how my business grew into what it is now.”

Now, Miller does photography ranging from corporate events to conferences to political affairs to headshots — but he’s still the Bushes’ personal photographer too. “Working at the White House was great on-the-job training,” Miller says. “I learned how to interact with high-level officials, heads of state, and foreign leaders, and it really helped shape and train me to be the photographer that I am today. Whether it’s a high-profile event or a celebrity or anything like that, my job is to be somewhat invisible and be in the right spot at the right time to capture those moments. There’s no better place to learn how to do that than the White House.”

That training prepared Miller for events such as photographing the Dalai Lama when he came to Dallas in 2015 and taking Bill Gates’ photo at a leadership forum.

“I love the pressure of having to capture the right moments,” Miller says, “because these moments will never happen again. It’s almost like shooting a wedding every day. These interactions will only happen once, and there are no do-overs. I’ve never been able to say, ‘Hey, Mr. President, can you do that again?’ You’ve got to make sure you’re always ready, even though you can’t be everywhere all the time.”

Luckily, Miller says, he’s spent so much time with the Bushes that he can usually tell what’s coming next based on their interactions and body language. His goal is to always try to stay a step ahead and be in the right spot.

“I never in a million years thought I’d be photographing the President of the United States,” Miller says. “I’m sitting here in my office, looking at a picture on the wall of the President and the Dalai Lama sitting at a table with a birthday cake, and they’re both cracking up laughing. There are days where I have to pinch myself.”

Whether it’s a photo of a world leader or an everyday headshot or family portrait, Miller doesn’t do much photo editing and says he rarely does touchups. “I really just want to convey people’s authenticity,” he says. “I feel like a photograph can tell a story. It captures a moment in time that will never happen again. So my goal is to tell the story of what was going on in that moment. If I’m shooting an event, my goal is to tell the story of the entire event. If I’m taking somebody’s headshot, I want to convey their authentic personality.”

Demand for Miller’s photography prowess has grown, but so has his team. Now, he has about five photographers in Dallas that shoot for him regularly, so if he’s already booked, his team can cover the request. Of course, last year was a tough one for the event industry, and therefore Miller’s business. But, he says, events have started to pick back up, and he’s hopeful that this year and the next will look quite different. He aims to grow his team of photographers and cover more and larger-scale events, while expanding his portrait and headshot venture as well. With businesses reopened, the inquiries have already started pouring in.

“I’m really hopeful we can continue to grow our business covering corporate, private, and political events as well headshots and portraits,” Miller says.

As long as his job is to tell a story through capturing those perfect moments — George Bush on a golf course, a compelling business deal, a family’s first portrait together — he’ll be happy.

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