Althouse: Obama strides forward to his press conference.

१ मे, २००९

Obama strides forward to his press conference.

In this wacky pic from the White House Flickr stream:

४० टिप्पण्या:

अनामित म्हणाले...: They either shoot him with a halo or against Lincoln. Media biased? Noooo.; १/५/०९, ९:५३ AM
David म्हणाले...: Grandiosity on Parade.; १/५/०९, ९:५५ AM
Hoosier Daddy म्हणाले...: They either shoot him with a halo or against Lincoln..

Which is really amusing for anyone who actually had read Lincoln and what his thoughts on blacks were.; १/५/०९, ९:५५ AM
Ernesto Ariel Suárez म्हणाले...: Gag me with a spoon.; १/५/०९, ९:५५ AM
David म्हणाले...: PatCA:

This is not a media photo, I'm sure. White House staff photographer. Your tax dollars at work.; १/५/०९, ९:५५ AM
Christy म्हणाले...: Don't know about you, but I see George W. Bush opposite Lincoln, standing bigger than life, in a blue shirt, hands clasped casually together. Three presidents in a line.; १/५/०९, ९:५६ AM
Hoosier Daddy म्हणाले...: It certainly isn't like the good old days when they used to play the Star Wars Imperial March theme when Bush and Cheney would stride out to the cameras.; १/५/०९, ९:५८ AM
The Dude म्हणाले...: Lincoln has boogers bigger than Obama.; १/५/०९, ९:५८ AM
Unknown म्हणाले...: To me Obama looks really small in this picture, like an 8-year-old kid, and almost like he's skipping.

Lincoln looks like he's scowling at Obama.; १/५/०९, १०:०१ AM
rhhardin म्हणाले...: Great photostream, but where are the dogs?; १/५/०९, १०:०४ AM
Rich B म्हणाले...: Love the fawning comments on Flickr!; १/५/०९, १०:०६ AM
Unknown म्हणाले...: enchanting...

simply E N C H A N T I N G !!!!!; १/५/०९, १०:०७ AM
traditionalguy म्हणाले...: This looks like a Byzantine Emperor's performance. Does anyone remember caesaropapism which kept the Eastern Roman Empire going strong for a 1000 years after Rome was overcome? The gifting of Obama maybe this performance ability.; १/५/०९, १०:२४ AM
अनामित म्हणाले...: Christy:
I looked at the photo in original size and I saw the profile of Lincoln's statue, the portrait of President Clinton and then Obama.

Three presidents, true, but not the same ones.; १/५/०९, १०:३६ AM
jayne_cobb म्हणाले...: I suppose this was just after he read The Daily Dish; १/५/०९, १०:४० AM
Lem Vibe Bandit म्हणाले...: Another shoot ruined by a men’s room attendant ;); १/५/०९, ११:१७ AM
goesh म्हणाले...: somewhere staff are wagging their tongues at him in derision; १/५/०९, ११:२२ AM
veni vidi vici म्हणाले...: "caesaropapism": Now, why are you bringing Cleopatra's chlamydia into this discussion?; १/५/०९, ११:२४ AM
paul a'barge म्हणाले...: SWAGGA', baby. SWAGGA'; १/५/०९, ११:३८ AM
MadisonMan म्हणाले...: The carpet looks pretty clean. And they claim to have a dog.; १/५/०९, ११:५३ AM
Bart DePalma म्हणाले...: And I thought that Bill Clinton set the standard for presidential narcissism...; १/५/०९, ११:५९ AM
Bissage म्हणाले...: It was Norman Mailer who said that a white man walks from the shoulders, like a bear, while a black man walks from the hips, like a cat.

That would make the miscegenated President of the United States a bearcat, if I’m not too far off the mark.

And I may very well be too far off the mark, as I can find no corroboration for my Mailer attribution, above.

But that’s okay, I’ve been jonesing to do some binturong linking for a good long while, now.

Done!

** strikes item from things-to-do list **; १/५/०९, १२:११ PM
BJK म्हणाले...: ...are you sure he's not warming up for Riverdance?

That's what it looks like to me.; १/५/०९, १२:१४ PM
Beth म्हणाले...: Althouse, nice juxtaposition of the two photos. Amusing reactions on both threads - and predictable.; १/५/०९, १२:३२ PM
Mark Daniels म्हणाले...: As David pointed out, this is an official White House photograph, not one from the press. So, I think that we can lay off the media here, even though I do agree that, in many ways, Obama has been preferred by the media.

All official photographers tend to create dramatic presentations of their presidents. I can't imagine that the Obama photographer would be any different. (Remember the famous pic of JFK looking out the Oval Office window, both hands leaning against his credenza, slightly slumped? The unspoken caption might have been, "Burdened by Being Leader of the Free World." But he might as well have been thinking, "I think I'll have ham salad for lunch.")

By the way, as to Lincoln, anyone who has read the record will also know that while he was certainly no 21st-century person, Lincoln's attitudes about race underwent marked changes during his time in the White House. He underwent many changes in those four-plus years.

Mark Daniels; १/५/०९, १२:३४ PM
Beth म्हणाले...: I'd like him better if he were reclining patriotically on a bear skin, doncha know. Ya know, just bein' regular folk.; १/५/०९, १:१२ PM
srfwotb म्हणाले...: The red and gold is kind of ridiculous - as it is with all Presidents, but I suppose you can't have the President walking through a hall with less pomp than a C-list celebrity.

If we had to have a celebrity President in my lifetime I would have preferred Steve Jobs - just to see the sleek aesthetic makeover he'd likely mastermind would be worth it on its own. I can't see him tolerating red and gold for long.; १/५/०९, १:१२ PM
David म्हणाले...: Mark--Yes, but why are we paying for official photographers in the first place? Imperial Presidency indeed.; १/५/०९, १:१८ PM
Andrew म्हणाले...: Isn't this just a photographer doing what photographers do. Not fawning, not wacky.

As a white house photographer you spend day in and day out shooting the same guy, in largely the same spaces. As was pointed out above, the holy grail is to shoot that "iconic" image, which would live on as the visual definition of an era. So you're always looking for some interesting angle or juxtaposition. You might look for scenes that have certain formal structures or a nicely balanced composition, or interesting textures or patterns.

Ann, you're a good amateur photographer (which is not damning with faint praise from me, because that's the most I would say about myself as well). Can't you imagine standing there waiting for the President to come by, thinking "how am I gonna shoot this in an interesting way", seeing that statue there and thinking, "Maybe I can use this to create something visually interesting."?

I certainly can.

Is there a political subtext to the choice of the statue? Probably. Especially if there are plenty of other statues in that same hallway that could have been used. If the photographer had done the same shot with a statue of Warren G. Harding, would we all be talking about it?; १/५/०९, १:१९ PM
Mark Daniels म्हणाले...: David:
I have zero problem with having White House photographers. It would be nice, for example, to have photographs from the Cabinet session at which Lincoln first read the Emancipation Proclamation. Or when Chester Alan Arthur let his former Stalwart allies he was going to back civil service reform. I'm glad that we have White House pictures from the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Yes, these photographers engage in a bit of aggrandizing of their primary subjects. And every president has been a narcissist. (They wouldn't have made it to the presidency if they weren't somewhat narcissistic. And by the way, I think that many bloggers, including me, suffer from a bit of narcissism.) That aside, I'm glad to have images of these narcissists as they go about their work.

But it simply is impossible to have more than a few folks around to record candid moments in the life of a presidential term. White House photographers aren't just letting us see White House events closely, they're creating an important record for history. Both of those aims seem like a good use of my tax dollars to me.; १/५/०९, १:२९ PM
Wince म्हणाले...: Not sure Obama "strides forward" in that photograph.

Looks more like the backward "Curly Shuffle" to me, where you kick your rear leg down to drag your front leg back.

An early precursor of the moon walk.; १/५/०९, १:३२ PM
Dust Bunny Queen म्हणाले...: I'd like him better if he were reclining patriotically on a bear skin, doncha know. Ya know, just bein' regular folk.

Geeze Beth, you missed your chance to be a snarky, snooty, snotty,**pretentious liberal in the Palin thread. It doesn't count here. Or maybe it does count because you guys just can't help yourselves.

**Doncha just love alliteration :-)

As for Obama walking. What a pain it must be to have everyone watching your every step......don't trip!!!!; १/५/०९, २:०७ PM
Beth म्हणाले...: But DBQ, you have your chance to be snarky and snooty and all that here, while you wail about the snarky, snooty liberals over there! Althouse is very generous.; १/५/०९, २:१८ PM
Beth म्हणाले...: don't trip!!!!Remember the good old days when Betty Ford (pre-sobriety) would trip Gerald, heading down the steps off Air Force One? We didn't know how good we had it!; १/५/०९, २:१९ PM
Palladian म्हणाले...: Hmm, the White House Flickr Photostream doesn't let their EXIF data visible. Where's the government transparency?

Anyway, holy 12mm lens, Batman!; १/५/०९, २:३५ PM
Dust Bunny Queen म्हणाले...: don't trip!!!!Remember the good old days when Betty Ford (pre-sobriety) would trip Gerald, heading down the steps off Air Force One? We didn't know how good we had it!

Well, that's what he gets for hiding the vodka.; १/५/०९, २:४७ PM
SteveR म्हणाले...: Don't call on Fox, Don't call on Fox, Don't call on Fox; १/५/०९, २:५१ PM
Trooper York म्हणाले...: I think it is cool that he was skipping in this photo.

It will help when his girls are playing hopscotch.

He seems like the kind of guy who was playing double dutch instead of fistball. Not that there's anything wrong with that.; १/५/०९, ५:५६ PM
rhhardin म्हणाले...: Democracy on Spring Break.; २/५/०९, ५:४० AM
अनामित म्हणाले...: It is somehow sad that there is such a thing as the Flickr stream, and that people follow it.; २/५/०९, ९:३० PM