By Daryl Lang

Updated 2:20 p.m. ET.

Photojournalist Pete Souza, who served as the official photographer for President Ronald Reagan and covered Barack Obama’s arrival in the Senate for the Chicago Tribune, has been named Obama’s chief White House photographer.

Souza says he was offered the job the evening of January 4, after discussions with Obama's transition staff.

"Discussions centered on the primary function of the White House photo office to visually document the presidency for history," Souza says. "I think they understand the role quite well in that regard."

Souza’s appointment was first reported by the National Press Photographers Association and was confirmed Monday by the Obama transition team.

"The president-elect got to know Pete early on in his first Senate year," says transition spokesperson Tommy Vietor. "He's obviously someone who is an exemplary photographer, one of the best in the business."

The White House maintains a photo staff that acts as an official picture service and preserves presidential images for history. In some cases, official White House photos are the only images available of presidential events that are closed to the press. One recent example is the private Oval Office meeting of President George W. Bush and Obama, which was photographed by current White House photographer Eric Draper.

In an interview published in PDN’s December issue, Draper advised his successor to prepare for “ride of their life.”

“It's a very intense job. I think the advice is to pursue it with gusto and to approach it seriously, because I feel it's a very important job,” Draper said.

Souza says he was planning to drive to Washington Monday and could start work next week. He plans to hire a staff to work with him.

"I kind of liked Facebook until today," Souza says, laughing. "I've been inundated by lots of nice messages offering a lot of congratulations, but also a lot of people asking for jobs."

Souza is currently an assistant professor of photojournalism at Ohio University's School of Visual Communication. Previously he worked for ten years as a photographer for the Tribune, based in Washington, D.C. He was the White House photographer for Reagan from June 1983 until Reagan left office in 1989.

During the presidential campaign, Souza rushed out a photo book titled The Rise of Barack Obama, which became a New York Times best-seller. Souza is also the author of two photo books about Reagan.

Souza’s appointment was lauded by WHNPA President Dennis Brack. “They could not have selected a better person for the job,” Brack said in a WHNPA blog post.

During the campaign, Obama’s communications staff used still photographer David Katz to document behind-the-scenes moments, including a widely published series of the Obama family watching the returns on election night.

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