I was stuck by the top of the main page of HuffPost (by the time you click it may not be on the top of the page anymore) photo used to illustrate “Democrats Try To 'Build Back' After Manchin Tanks $2 Trillion Bill” this morning. (Here’s a link to the uncropped photo.)
The photo was taken from a low very angle shows and shows Manchin with his hands held in front of him as if he’s preaching and with a cloud perfectly positioned as if it was Heaven-sent with the etherial blue sky behind his head. Get the message?
The name J. Scott Applewhite sounded vaguely familiar. I decided to check him out and it turned out that he is a photojournalist well known for the photos of presidents he has taken over a period of 36 years.
His career is documented in photos and text in the 2017 article:
There’s only one photo of Trump here. Many of the photos will make you nostalgic for the days we had presidents and leaders from both parties that were psychologically healthy human beings who experienced feeling besides rage and and narcissistic superiority.
His photos of presidents include the frequently published George W. Bush’s thumbs up Mission Accomplished picture on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. There are several other photos that you’ve probably seen before including one of the President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan kissing and President Ronald Reagan checks his watch while talking with Mikhail Gorbachev both taken at the perfect moments. There a classic photo of a serious and contemplative President Clinton walking to the podium to deliver a short statement on the impeachment inquiry in the Rose Garden of the White House and one of President Bush showing his feelings on his face while walking among the grave markers at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France.
There are also a several photos taken of Applewhite at work including one by photographer Eric Draper of Bush covering a laughing Applewhite’s camera lens with his hand.
Technically, I noticed in that photo and in the next photo taken of him that he was taking his photos from a kneeling position and many of his other photos of presidents seem to have been taken from a low angle. In the case of the Mansion photo his positioning was fortuitous. It was perfect for sending a wordless message of the power Mansion now wields over the Democratic Party.