This photographer was employed to take photos of Newsom and was responsible for shots of the governor surveying fire damage, visiting China, and picking up debris from homeless encampments in Los Angeles County.

Ommanney has previously done work for major politicians like former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

Politico reports that this makes Ommanney one of the top earners in Newsom’s administration, being close to Newsom’s own $234,101 annual salary.

Newsom upgraded his status to full-time in January and some of Ommanney’s images were used in a recent video promotion of the State of the State address.

“Charles plays an instrumental role in communicating the work of state government across visual platforms — including social media, helping us meet Californians where they are at,” said Gardon.

“Insufferable Twit,” wrote American actor James Woods in response to the story. “Gavin Newsom’s office pays famed photographer $200,000 a year. Your tax dollars hard at work,” wrote X user Sean Collins.

“Californians: We desperately need a solution to homelessness, skyrocketing crime, high taxes, open border, bad schools, gas prices, & housing. Frankly, we are concerned you’re no longer focused on the state. Gavin Newsom: Best I can do is spend $200,000 a year on pictures of me,” Dalton wrote in an X post.

“Unlike nearly all of his predecessors and gubernatorial counterparts, the real story here is that Governor Newsom did not have a dedicated photographer for over five years. We’re thrilled that changed when Charles joined our team,” said the Governor’s Office.

“Charles is a retired photojournalist and his photographs of the governor are regularly used by news organizations across the state and his role is part of our broader commitment to transparent and effective communication with the public,” said Gardon.

Earlier this year, a state audit found that California had spent $24 billion over five years on homeless programs, but failed to consistently track whether this huge spending successfully made an impact.

“Why is it that the governor feels the need to hire somebody for $200,000 to take pictures of him,” Elmets said. “That photographer should be hired as a contractor to Governor Newsom’s campaign, and there you wouldn’t have all the questions raised about taxpayer dollars.”

“I think Newsom is very conscious of how he comes off, how they’re projecting,” Ohman said. “I just am not cranked up enough about this to really get angry about it. State government is highly paid, and you know a lot of the time, the reason that it’s highly paid is because it’s really expensive to live in California.”