‘Telling that fuller story’: Michelle and Barack on their White House portraits

Former first lady and former president speak in poetry at unveiling ceremony of official paintings at White House in first visit together since leaving office

Even after all these years, she admitted, Michelle Obama still feels a bit odd and awkward inside the White House. Growing up on Euclid Avenue [on Chicago's south side]," the former first lady reflected, I never could have imagined that any of this would be part of my story."

Yet from Wednesday her face will adorn the walls of America's most famous address for as long as it still stands and presidents still call it home. In their first visit as a couple to the White House since leaving office in 2017, she and ex-president Barack Obama unveiled their official portraits at a ceremony in the East Room.