The Picture

Very likely you have seen in the news the PICTURE. You know, the picture taken during a meeting between Speaker Pelosi and President Trump at the White House. Much has already been said about the quality of the picture, including equating it to a masterpiece reminiscent of a Renaissance painting. Aside from the visual quality of the picture there are other photographic items to consider.

Let’s remember that the official White House photographer that created this picture is part of a propaganda machine. The photographer for the President takes many pictures of daily activities. Some of the pictures are great, flatter the President and are worthy of publication. Some pictures will be considered bad because they’re unflattering and will never see the light of day. This was true whether it was Pete Souza documenting Obama or Shealah Craighead who’s now documenting Trump. Knowing that most government released pictures are designed to show the best side of a situation, aka propaganda, many reputable news organizations will not publish government issued photos from events that the press was not invited. In fact, the New York Times stated policy is: “The New York Times generally does not publish what are known as handout photographs — images of events from which news photographers were excluded — which can be powerful pieces of propaganda…”

It will be interesting to see how history treats the interpretation of this photograph. In the political climate we’re in today, the photograph is highly polarized. Trump published the picture thinking it cast him in a favorable light. He thought the picture made Pelosi look crazy and unable to remain composed. In his Tweet, Trump titled the picture “Nervous Nancy’s unhinged meltdown”. But, Pelosi saw the photo as propaganda that favored her position and quickly made it the cover image of her Twitter account. The photo immediately began trending on social media as iconic and definitely not in favor of the President. This example shows how political beliefs effect the interpretation of images, regardless of the photographer or publisher’s intention. Perhaps the people of Japan look at the Iwo Jima photo as a symbol of American aggression? Does the Chinese Government look at the Tank Man photo taken in Tienanmen Square as a symbol of the greatness of the government overpowering the weak nonconforming citizen?

Regardless of the politics and propaganda behind the photo, it really is a good photo that could be seen as important as the Iwo Jima or Tank Man photo. The photo is important because it shows a confrontation between the controversial Executive leader and the co-equal, first female, leader of the House. This photo is not planned in the sense that the photographer asked the Speaker to stand, point and pose. It’s a candid moment in a contentious meeting. Just as candid as other iconic news photos that are captured by experienced photojournalists.  The Nixon – Khrushchev photo is another famous image with a leader pointing at another leader.

Louis Pasteur said, “Chance favors the prepared mind.” In other words, Shealah Craighead was prepared because she was paying attention, doing her job as a photojournalist and trained over many years of being in a similar situation. Craighead has worked in the White House before as photographer for First Lady Laura Bush and worked with Sarah Palin on the campaign trail. Later, during the 2016 election she worked with Senator Marco Rubio during his bid for the presidency. She said early on after getting the job working as the Official White House Photographer for Trump, “I didn’t come in cameras and gun blazing, saying, ‘This is my job and I’m entitled to do this or that.’ I came in with the expectation that I’m going to need to gain the trust of a client and person who I have not worked with before … Once we got through that part, he was able to see my style and gain the trust that I’m very protective over the images that go out for both of our sakes.” She followed up with, “His failure is my failure, if he gets flak for that that’s on me. I err on the side of caution.”

Based on the social and main stream media’s reaction it looks like the picture failed as propaganda in favor of Trump. This is no different than the photo of a shirtless Putin riding a horse. The Putin photo was chosen to show the Soviet leader as a hero to the people of Russia. The US looks at the picture with a decidedly different point of view.

Someone had to choose the photo to show Trump so he could send it as a Tweet. It’s hard to believe Craighead, the photographer and a trained political photojournalist, didn’t see the negative implication the picture held and thought it worked in the favor of Trump as a positive propaganda picture. Likely a sycophant Chief of Something saw all the photos after a memory card download, culled the list and presented a few selects to the President to illustrate the perceived point of a melt down on the part of the Speaker. The picture is visually arresting and powerful. But, depending on the political mind that views the picture, the interpretation will be different. Trump chose that picture because his political viewpoint made him see what he wanted to see.