Political photos analysis - BAGnewsNotes

[housewolf]

It's an interesting current events photos analysis blog. The blogger has an eye for picking out unusual and generally uncommented-upon aspects of photographic images. Thought some of you might find his work interesting (I'm not associated with the site or the blooger in any way, I'm just a fan wanting to share something I find interesting). Here's a sample of recent posts

http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/

Feb 13, 2008
RGB
http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com.nyud.net:8090/bagnews/images/Clinton-Maryland.jpg

Although the picture was taken some days before the voting, you can't look at this image outside the context of the one-sided loss HRC suffered last night in Maryland (as well as Virginia and D.C.).

Here, Maryland Clinton-backers Lt. Gov. Brown, Senator Mikulski, and Governor O'Malley, back-right, join Hillary on a tour of the Powertrain manufacturing plant. Clinton and Brown wear masks of attention, but you get the feeling that either or both could be as far away as the (at least momentarily) discordant Mikulski. Visions of the end-of-the-line, perhaps?

What seems to enhance the effect is the arrangement of primary colors. While the red-green-blue creates an optimal visual differentiation in the brain, I wonder if the color harmony actually serves to heighten the dissonance of the manufactured mood.
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Feb 12, 2008
Badly Lacking

http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com.nyud.net:8090/bagnews/images/Gates-Strategies.jpg


http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com.nyud.net:8090/bagnews/images/McCain-Rescue.jpg

Maybe this is more Wonkette than BAG material, I don't know.

Still, I saw both last night while doing my tour around. The top shot is Robert Gates at the Conference on Security Policy in Munich on Sunday. (Here's the justice.) The McCain image was taken at a rally at the Virginia Aviation Museum on Monday. According to the caption, this A-4 is just like the one he was flying when he was shot down in 'Nam. (Frankly, I'm so exhausted by the war props ... but maybe that's more Mac's problem than mine.)

What these pics mostly make me think about, however -- beyond the (not so) subliminal -- is how Rove, with all his exacting visual message discipline, would never have let either of these shots happen. Especially not the latter.
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Feb 08, 2008
Your Turn: Floats Like A Butterfly...

http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com.nyud.net:8090/bagnews/images/obama-muhammed-ali.jpg

Two things spurred me to post this image from the Obama website, a shot I've been looking at for some time now. One was Maureen Dowd's terrible last column, in which she continues to perpetuate the passive "Obambi" tag. The second was the possibility that Obama might actually nudge into the recognized front runner position over HRC by Monday, or Wednesday.

I'm interested in your take on this image, including Obama's pose, the composition, the analogy to Ali, and the significance of Ali lording it over Sonny Liston in their heavyweight rematch in Maine -- the sight of Sunday's caucus, by the way.
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[alfredo]

1. Love the Obama image. Let's see if the Ohio/Texas strategy works.

I'm going to vote for either one come November, so I am busy enjoying the chess match between Barak and Hillary.

[boobooday]

2. Nice photography on the last one

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!

I like to think about how Ali was such a powerful anti-war spokesman, and there he is, in a moment of strength and triumph.

[Neecy]

3. I like BAGnewsNotes a lot...

It's a bookmark I visit a couple of times a week. He did some great work on the photos coming out of Iraq as well.

[SoCalDem]

4. #1.. No one "wants" to be there.. all are looking in different directions

no one's smiling or has any expression..

deadpan in living colors