Louie Palu

Biography

Louie Palu is a photographer and filmmaker whose work has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and World Press Photo Award. Based in Washington, DC, he has covered US foreign policy and politics for twenty years.

Louie Palu

See Work

PHOTOGRAPHY / Summer 2026

The Party Is Over

Photography and Essay by Louie Palu

This past July 4, before thunderstorms threatened to spoil the party, I stood on the National Mall amid a crowd that had gathered to watch the Salute to America air show, a highlight of the Trump administration’s Freedom 250 celebration. 

National Guard member looks over Reflecting Pool.

Dialing In

By Louie Palu
#VQRTRUESTORY

The Paper Trail

By Louie Palu
Winter 2025

The Details

By Louie Palu
Security staff at capital
#VQRTRUESTORY / Fall 2025

Way Off the Record

By Louie Palu
Diptych of two men whispering to each other in each image.

Signaling

By Louie Palu
Diptych of TV broadcasting staff preparing to go on air from Capitol Hill.
#VQRTRUESTORY / Summer 2025

Takeoffs and Landings

By Louie Palu
Capitol Hill (LEFT), White House (RIGHT), Washington, DC, 2024.
#VQRTRUESTORY

Hot Mics

By Louie Palu
LEFT: Russell Vought Director of the Office of Management and Budget at a US Senate Hearing. Washington, DC, 2025. RIGHT: President Trump holding a Gulf of America hat on the South Lawn of the White House. Washington, DC, 2025.
#VQRTRUESTORY / Spring 2025

The Outsider

By Louie Palu
Photos by Louie Palu
PORTFOLIOS / Fall 2024

The Next Cold War

By Louie Palu

If you are going to war in Finland’s Arctic, you’ll need skis and tanks, of course, but you may also need newspapers. The Fins have been using this cheap, homemade innovation for sweat-absorbent (and disposable) insoles for decades. 

Finnish ski troops during military exercises. Lapland, Finland, December, 2019.