Pete Souza, White House Photographer, works as President Barack Obama greets guests after he signed an executive order for the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and University in the East Room of the White House in Washington Friday, Feb. 26, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Pete Souza, the former White House photographer who documented the presidencies of Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan, will share stories from his life and career this spring at the Lied Center on the University of Kansas campus.

The free talk, slated for 7 p.m. April 24, will feature photos from Souza’s new book, “Obama: An Intimate Portrait.” The New York Times best-seller, released last November, includes 300 of the nearly 2 million photos Souza took as chief White House photographer under Obama.

“Over the course of eight years in the White House, I probably spent more time with Pete Souza than with anybody other than my family,” Obama wrote in the book’s foreword.

Souza’s “Unguarded Moments: Behind-the-Scenes Photographs of President Reagan,” based on his 5 1/2 years as an official White House photographer in the Reagan administration, was published in 1992. A follow-up book, “Images of Greatness: An Intimate Look at the Presidency of Ronald Reagan,” was published in 2004, the same year Souza served as the official photographer at Reagan’s funeral.

Previously, as a photojournalist, Souza worked as the national photographer for the Chicago Tribune’s Washington bureau, and also as a freelancer for National Geographic and Life magazine. His photographs have been featured on the covers of Life, Fortune, Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report, among others. He is an alumnus of Kansas State University.

Souza’s Lawrence talk, which is presented by KU’s School of Journalism, is open to the public and will not require tickets or advanced reservations. Books will be available for purchase at the event, and those who buy a copy at the event will receive a bookplate signed by the author, the Lied Center said.