Yoichi Robert Okamoto - Capturing the Presidency in a Unique Light

“You just have to be there all the time. You can’t not be there.”

― Yoichi Robert Okamoto (July 5, 1915 – April 24, 1985)

That was Yoichi Okamoto’s approach to his work. As the official White House photographer during the Johnson administration, he enjoyed unparalleled access to the president and the oval office. He was even granted the privilege of entering unannounced, capturing unique and intimate moments. With a deep sense of history, he not only captured the moment in time, but also told a tale through each photo. He provided more than just a "behind-the-scenes" look at presidential history; he was the literal fly on the wall, working 16-hour days as "LBJ's Shadow," documenting historical events and defining our perception of an American president.

Yoichi Robert Okamoto was born in 1915 in New York. His father, Chobun Yonezo Okamoto, was a successful Japanese exporter, book publisher, and real estate developer. He emigrated to the United States in 1904 and settled down in the New York area with his wife, Shina. He was a well-rounded man who engaged in a variety of intellectual pursuits. He was a patron of the arts, Japanese textbook publisher, and prolific author.

Yoichi spent three years as a child in Japan before returning in mid-1923 for a visit. He was still in Japan when the devastating 1923 Kanto earthquake struck. Following his evacuation on an American warship and subsequent return to the United States, the 8-year-old embarked on a tour with a Red Cross unit, and shared his observations of the calamity.

Yoichi, also known as "Oke" among his friends, was raised in Yonkers and gained a reputation in the local community for his impressive skills as an amateur magician. In the 1930s, Yonezo and Shina returned to Japan where they ended their marriage. Yonezo remarried and relocated to Sierra Madre, California. After returning to New York, Shina found employment as a domestic servant. Yoichi established himself in Scarsdale, where he attended Roosevelt High School before continuing his education at Colgate University.

During his time at Colgate, he was selected as the lead varsity cheerleader for the school and served as the editor of the student magazine Salmagundi. Known for his sartorial elegance, he also penned a men's fashion column for the student newspaper The Banter. Okamoto also developed a keen interest in photography during his college years.

After graduation, he relocated to Syracuse, immersing himself in the vibrant nightlife scene as a candid camera photographer. In addition to his work, he dedicated himself to honing his skills in photographic technique. In 1939, Okamoto began working as a staff photographer for the Syracuse Post-Standard newspaper, where he remained for three years.

In January 1942, shortly after Pearl Harbor, he joined the U.S. Army, making history as the first Nisei enlistee from the New York area. He was rejected initially due to his Japanese ancestry, but with the help of the Mayor of Syracuse and a supportive Army major, he was able to secure his entry. He was sent to the Quartermaster School at Camp Lee in Virginia for his training.

Okamoto served in the U.S. Army's Signal Corps during World War II. In 1944, he embarked on a journey to Europe as a war correspondent. In the subsequent year, he was dispatched to Vienna, Austria, where he was appointed as the personal photographer to General Mark Clark, the High Commissioner in Austria. During this period, Okamoto had the privilege of overseeing all the photographs that were published in the American occupation zone.

Following his discharge with the rank of major in 1946, he joined the U.S. Information Service in Vienna, where he led the Pictorial Section. Throughout his time in Vienna, he established a prominent presence in local social and political circles with his captivating photographs. These photographs documented the process of rebuilding the Austrian capital after the devastating effects of war.

In 1954, the Art Club of Austria curated an exhibition of Okamoto's photographs at Vienna's renowned Galerie Würthle. During that year, he received a silver medal from the Austrian Photographic Society in recognition of his significant contributions to the advancement of photography in Austria. He married a local woman named Paula Wachter, with whom he fathered a son. He also became fluent in the German language.

Later that year, he was summoned back to the United States and appointed director of the Visual Materials section of the US Information Agency. He was accompanied by his wife, Paula, who found work as a Voice of America broadcaster. During these years, Okamoto's photography gained popularity in the United States. The acclaimed photographer Edward Steichen featured Okamoto's portrait of Austrian dancer Harald Kreuzberger in his seminal 1955 photo exhibition "The Family of Man."

Okamoto's career took a dramatic turn in 1961, when he was invited by USIA director Edward R. Murrow to join then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson as his personal photographer on an official tour of Berlin following the completion of the Berlin Wall. The vice president admired the photographs from the trip and requested that Okamoto be assigned to him on future travels.

When Johnson became president, he recruited Okamoto to be the official White House photographer. Okamoto agreed on the condition that he be provided unrestricted access to the President in order to take candid photos. Okamoto was granted top secret security clearance and would remain the only person (other than the President's appointment secretary, Marvin Watson) who could walk in on the president without an appointment. In the end, he took approximately 675,000 photographs. Okamoto's efforts have resulted in the Johnson administration becoming one of the most visually documented presidencies. Interestingly, Okamoto was never close to Johnson, whose photos he preserved for posterity.

Following his tenure in the White House, Okamoto established Image Inc., a photofinishing business located in Washington. Alongside his wife Paula Okamoto, he embarked on a successful journey as a freelance photographer.

For the 1972 issue of The Nation's Business, Okamoto photographed the aging FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, prompting Hoover to publicly thank him for the photographs. In 1977, he produced photographs for a special edition of Smithsonian magazine on the Supreme Court. Four years later, along with writer Bill Brock, he produced A New Beginning, a photodocumentary of the 1980 Republican National Convention.

On April 24, 1985, Okamoto's life and brilliant career tragically came to an end. Okamoto's death was determined to be a suicide by hanging, according to a spokesperson for the Montgomery County police.

Two years later, his book Okamoto’s Vienna: The City Since the Fifties was published. Produced with the assistance of his widow Paula Okamoto, it showcased Okamoto’s photos of postwar Austria.