Pete Souza's Best Photograph: Obama Shows How You Talk to a Dictator.
?1551372739
I wasnt supposed to be here for this picture. It was taken on the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings all the heads of state had gathered there and were coming out of an impromptu luncheon. The official photographers from each country had been kicked out we were all supposed to leave the building. But I have a knack of making myself small and sticking around.
The shot shows the kind of interaction President Obama had with President Putin during his tenure. It was 2014, a particularly tense time between the two countries. You can see in the facial expressions and gestures that this was a very serious conversation. There are interpreters stood behind them, but I get the impression from Putins face that he understood exactly what was being said in English.
I was within earshot. I cant recount specifically what they said, but I knew the subject matter. Can I say what it was? It was about
some of Russias actions in the world. Lets leave it at that.
This conversation went on for a while: they werent thinking about me. To them, I was just one of many people in the room, coming and going in different directions. I started out shooting horizontally and tighter, and then switched to vertical, backing up to show their entire bodies. Compositionally, that seemed to show the body language better.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/2/28/1838353/-Pete-Souza-s-Best-Photograph-Obama-Shows-How-You-Talk-to-a-Dictator?detail=emaildkre
Compare and contrast:
?1551373158