In America, the first president to exploit photography was not Teddy Roosevelt, or Franklin Delano Roosevelt, or John Kennedy, though all were masters of photographic presentation, whether on the campaign trail or sitting in the Oval Office. It was Abraham Lincoln, whose election was aided by a Mathew Brady photograph, widely reproduced (in woodcut form as well as photographic prints) that made him appear more handsome and less gangly. Brady pulled up Lincoln's collar to cover his long neck, retouched his face to eliminate the gauntness, and in general gave him what we would now call a photographic make-over. From that day to this, presidents have struggled to look good, with official photographers hired by the White House, and a running battle to control the press at all points even with their telephoto lenses and general sneakiness and "get the picture or die" attitude. Nothing is so rare these days as real spontaneity, not the planned media events that include even the calculated casualness of a walk on the beach. "Photo-ops" (i.e., "photographic opportunities") are carefully staged rituals, with each photographer making a nearly identical version of the same picture. Looking through a newspaper or weekly magazine, it is hard to find a photograph of a politician that does not appear staged — although those exceptions are still worth looking for. Far more common, however, are the endless variations on the same basic image, or copies of previous favorites. What might once have been spontaneous — JFK with his children — becomes the model to be copied by later officeholders. Of course not all presidential pictures are neat, dull images of handshakes after signing bills into law. For that matter, not all American political pictures are of presidents. Politics is played in many ways, and in many places besides Washington, D.C. There are plenty of photographers — and politicians — to go around, and there are plenty of photos of all kinds besides the standards. Some carefully staged media events backfire: Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis looked silly and out of place, not "presidential," riding around in a tank with an ill-fitting helmet on his head. Some political photos are funny — one or two of them intentionally. Most political photos are totally forgettable, some memorable, and a few key images are totally unforgettable, capturing moments of high drama in ways that provide a shared sense of history for all. When that happens, political life somehow escapes control of the spindoctors and image masters, and manages to recover a sense of immediacy, vitality and significance. |
