Presidential Photography

[jake]

I was talking to someone about an assignment they were given to photograph Brad Pitt and how he figured out where generally to take the photographs, then specifically, then in detail - the head, the hands, etc. Sort of like zooming in from outer space on Google Earth to someone's backyard. Which got me thinking of course about how I might accomplish the same task, and I have to admit, I don't think I have any idea, but I'd like to have a better sense of how this works.

So to transition back to photography from politics here, say you were asked to make a portrait of the President. How would you do it? Where would you take the photographs? Once there, what sort of scene would you put them in? Position? Lighting? Props? Etc?

Assuming of course this is a real task and that the goal is not to be arrested immediately afterwards.

Pick from any of the past Presidents - Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, or Obama.

[Justin Smith]

Man, that's a tough one! I would love to come up with something as iconic as Platon's croch shot of Clinton for Esquire magazine. Of the past/current/elect Presidents, I think that Clinton is the most photogenic and comfortable in his skin. (He's like that fun guy everyone wants to invite to the party, but you know if you loan him $20 you'll never get it back and you would never trust him around your girlfriend.)

For valued work, I think I would most like to photograph Carter, because I have a lot of respect for the time and effort he has given to humanitarian and peace-building endeavors. Not sure of the specifics of my portraiture, yet.

[Mike Kovacs]

I think the photo series of Kennedy and his family in the White House are the best presidential photos ever.  Who can forget Kennedy in the Oval Office with his young son playing under his desk?

That is the opportunity to get come January.

[David Bedell]

Kennedy's official photographer died this week.  I don't remember his name.  A great eye.

[Tom Hildreth]

I love the work of the White House photographers in general. Yes, they are there all the time and so they get to know the who, what, when and where of the place. Still, so many of the great Whitehouse shots seem to be available light, and done so well. My guess is that a lot of that stuff was done with rangefinders-wouldn't you think the clak-whirr of a film SLR during the 70s-80s would have been objectionable?
 
Is there a dark room in the White House? Does the photographer have an office of his/her own? Are all the images sent to an archive? How often? How far from the image archive do they operate-It seems likely the photographer might want to review something done last year in order to do it better this year, that kind of thing.
 
Use a smoothing filter on Jimmy-he's showing his age lately. He keeps doin' that carpentry thing outside, that must be the reason.

[mdcarma]

In this case, Army Signal Corps.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/fts/orlando_200702A13_01.html

[KirkT]

Jane Brown had a great idea which she talks about in her book, Faces.  She was assigned to photograph Alec Guinness but he was looking kind of old and she just wasn't "getting" the shot she wanted from him.  She then had him hide behind a wall and peek out which completely changed his expression and "there he was".

I always thought that was very clever.

[jake]

Cecil Stoughton, who took the photo of Johnson taking the oath of office, just passed away.

Karsh took the famous photo of Churchill by daring first to take away Churchill's cigar - right out of his mouth. Churchill was not pleased, thus the look in the photograph.

What I like about the Clinton photo is that it seems from Clinton's look that he gets the joke himself (whether he did or not in reality) which says everything about Clinton's personality. Smart man, stupid man, but never happier than when he was pulling people's chains, which more often than not, Republicans' chains.

I think if I were photographing Carter, I'd like to take a photograph of him napping. Or at least, sitting in a chair in winter sun, not looking at the camera. I think there is some part of Carter that must be very tired - in a good way tired, like after successfully fixing the tractor - after Obama's victory.