Donald Trump's Official Portrait and the Language of Lighting

[MSnowy]

I have no idea, but I'm guessing that the genre is specific enough to have some rules. Obama's is definitely lit better, but still not super interesting or anything.

Just for the sake of comparison....PM Trudeau's official portrait. It's much more engaging...but it doesn't seem to require the patriotic background.

Angela Merkel

Emmanuel Macron

This page might be the best...many Putins to choose from:

Photo bank ∙ For the media ∙ President of Russia

Did you take these photos?

 

[vintagesnaps]

On CNN's website (rather than speculation? observations? by a photographer/blogger from whom PetaPixel managed to 'beg, borrow, or steal' as the saying goes, or repost or rewrite or whatever...) there's an article telling there were two different photographers who did the official portraits. Pence's portrait was done by his official photographer, D. Myles Cullen.

Trump's portrait wasn't done til apparently August by Shealah Craighead. The gold frame you saw John in the photo (good eye, it's a portrait of Thomas Jefferson) as well as the wallpaper seems to show that the photo must've been done after the Oval Office was remodeled. The official portraits were commissioned by the US Government Publishing Office (which I didn't know we had) and will be distributed... etc. etc.

If you do a search of Pete Souza Obama, and Shealah Craighead Trump, I think you'll see the differences. Ms. Craighead seems to be shooting from a distance and nothing much behind the scenes, which seems to show limited access and poor available vantage points. She also was the photographer for Laura Bush.

 

[Derrel]

what if the photographer was purposefully trying to make it unflattering?

/r/conspiracy

Speaking of which; there was a photographer who __admitted__ that he shot unflattering portraits of U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona, a few years ago. McCain has some skin issues, which the guy purposefully (so he said!) emphasiszed, because he did not like McCain.

As far as these Trump shots go: they are simply NOT top-shelf work. Just.Are.Not.Very.Good.Presidential.Formal.Portraits. Lighting sucks. Posing is weak.Propping and sets are bad. I have this feeling that whoever shot the shots was rushed, or was simply NOT capable enough to make truly good portraits.

 

[vintagesnaps]

'Whoever' did the official Presidential portrait is his official photographer, Shealah Craighead. Like I said, do a search of her current photos and those she did of Laura Bush when Mrs. Bush was first lady, and those done of Obama by her predecessor, Pete Souza.

She seems to often have limited access and/or lousy vantage points, taking many photos from some distance or at odd angles. How much of her work is truly her style is probably better seen in her photos of Mrs. Bush.

 

[Designer]

'Whoever' did the official Presidential portrait is his official photographer, Shealah Craighead. Like I said, do a search of her current photos and those she did of Laura Bush when Mrs. Bush was first lady, and those done of Obama by her predecessor, Pete Souza.

She seems to often have limited access and/or lousy vantage points, taking many photos from some distance or at odd angles. How much of her work is truly her style is probably better seen in her photos of Mrs. Bush.

Her story shows that it's far more important to have connections than mere talent and skill.

 

[tirediron]

Just to save everyone a lot of grief, I'm going to assume this thread has run its course.