October 28, 2004

Photo Mosaic of GW Bush made with photos of the American Dead in Iraq. It's sort of shocking to see all the photos in one place like this, especially overlayed on the man who sent them to war.
posted by Xeo 20 years ago
  • I wonder how many tiles are repeats? I tried counting the grid dimensions but got lost...
  • Not that anyone at UCSF will vote for Bush, or that it would matter in California anyways, but I just put this on my cubicle wall.
  • The original photo mosaic, as I recall, was the Darth Vader one from the mid- to late-90s. That one was so much better from a technical standpoint, as it actually took frames that matched the color scheme for the photos and lined them up properly. Every mosaic I've seen since has been all of the pictures in a grid, then manipulating the color and brightness in the pattern of the overlaying photo. Yeah, it's a lot easier, but it's just not as impressive to me.
  • Here is another site featuring the original "War President", along with "Abu Rummy" (Rumsfeld / Abu Ghraib photos), "Gashcroft" (Ashcroft / pron) and "Crude Dick" (Cheney / SUV's & oil wells).
  • @Sandspider - it's much easier to do with something like Star Wars - you have 30 frames per second that you can harvest, or 180,000 pictures from a 100-minute movie. with only 1,100 pics, sometimes you have to cheat a little...
  • I have seen true photo mosiacs on display before, and they are very impressive. But in this case, I think the technical aesthetics have to take second place.
  • His expression is really weakened by repeating frames. Too bad CNN doesn't keep a head shot of all the civilian Iraqis. He could have had a higher resolution and possibly not repeated.
  • Don't forget this photo mosaic of Bush which sums up his personality well.
  • "Too bad CNN doesn't keep a head shot of all the civilian Iraqis. He could have had a higher resolution and possibly not repeated." too bad we started the war in the first place. then we wouldn't have a reason to make these mosaics at all.
  • Not to snark... the kid did a good job... but this just rips off a piece that was done months ago. To his credit the guy who did the linked composite mentions that, but seeing as how the original has achieved meme status I don't see how he could get away with not doing so. On his blog, Joe mentions that "War President" is being exhibited at the Ronald Feldman Gallery in New York until November 27.
  • too bad we started the war in the first place. then we wouldn't have a reason to make these mosaics at all. Actually, this war and the Bush administration have played large roles in furthering digital mosaic technology, what with all the complicated scripts and algorithms needed for image measurement and compilation. But America's mosaic industry will probably get outsourced to India anyway.
  • My buddy Travis is in that picture. I'm going to go find him.
  • "Actually, this war and the Bush administration have played large roles in furthering digital mosaic technology... But America's mosaic industry will probably get outsourced to India anyway." bwah hah hah. nice.
  • I'm so sorry to hear about your friend, ian would say. Let us know if you do find his picture.
  • That saddens me to my very soul. I hate GWB viscerally. Perhaps it is because one of my brothers is on his way to Iraq and another will join him in a number of months. They are good, decent people, not pawns. It must be easy to make the decision to send young people into war when you don't have to look at the empty chair at the table during Thanksgiving dinner.
  • That NYT page has a photo of the artist and Bush Monkeys but you can't really see the monkeys. Here's a closer look (via bloggy) and information on where it is now displayed.