January 27, 2009

Smile for the Camera, Chimpy! The NYTimes asks some chief wire photo editors to choose the best photos of W's era. Really, the common ones are just as interesting as the divergent ones.
posted by es el Queso 15 years ago
  • That was a really interesting interview and has left me equal parts amused, irritated and thoughtful. I liked the Wendell Holmes quote, too. Thanks, Queso!
  • Mmm, Volga. Very interesting interviews and photos. Time to sell the ranch, W. (and I don't mean take over Paul Newman's dressig company)
  • A very enlightening interview and series of pictures. We know the extent to which photo ops are stage managed but it's seldom talked about so openly. In another life Bush may well have made a meagre living as a second-rate comedian, had his japery not been in the context of, you know, life and death issues. And in those last three pictures at the Whitehouse, it's as if he's been suddenly possessed by the undead ghost of Nixon.
  • What I found interesting is how they went on and on about how much access they had, and then, barely a breath later, how the opportunity for their shots was stage managed. When the access you have is closely closely managed...you don't have access. And yet, completely oblivious they apparently are.
  • The pictures are nice. He will be remembered much more favorably through photographs than he will be through video. I It is remarkable how his expression jumps from serious to joking to bewildered in video. I watched his final speech at the White House and was struck again by that. There he was, making an easy, short speech to a room full of supporters. His vocal delivery was fine. But he couldn't seem to choose an appropriate expression for the words that were coming out of his mouth. And he couldn't seem to maintain any expression at all for more than a few seconds.
  • Yeah, the still picture on 9/11 compared to the video just doesn't do justice to the stupidity that glazes his eyes...