Barack Obama caught in hilarious White House snap with young Spider-Man fan

He's faced world changing decisions and matters of national importance in the past year alone, but it can never be said Barack Obama is afraid of showing his lighter side.

The US President was captured in this candid White House snap play acting with a young visitor dressed as Spider-Man.

The young boy, thought to be the son of a White House staffer, can be seen shooting out his arm while dressed head to toe as the web-slinging comic book superhero.

And keen to entertain his young guest, the President on the other side of the room throws his arms backwards to pretend he has been caught in Spider-Man's web.

The image, taken by White House photojournalist Pete Souza for his 'Portrait of a Presidency' series, portrays Obama as a family-centric father figure with the human touch.

The hilarious picture went down a storm online - within an hour of being uploaded to Barack Obama's Facebook page, it had received more than 300,000 'likes'.

The image emerged on the same day the President was declared Time magazine's Person of the Year 2012.

Although it is not known when exactly the photo was taken, the President will no doubt have much more serious matters to deal with right now.

Obama gave a White House address today on US gun controls in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary school gun massacre, where 20 children and six adults died.