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The turned away body indicates the presence of something in the shadows, of an interruption by the camera, of a certain voyeurism. It may seem like a stretch, but I ask you to consider the size of the fleur de lis and the rakish angle required to display it.Īnd what of Trump himself? If you gave me a photographic Rorschach test of sorts and asked me to free-associate adjectives for a man turned away but leaning toward the camera, hunched over, half-hidden in shadow, I would tell you: scheming, sinister. Incidentally, it reveals the fleur de lis prominently embroidered on the Louis XV chair (if my limited knowledge of French antiques is correct), a rather bizarre choice for an American portrait and perhaps a subtle tip of the hat to a monarch who showed little interest in politics and led France to the doorstep of the French Revolution. So, if we accept that it doesn't exactly convey power, what is it that this portrait is showing the viewer? The chair is turned away. That shadow was placed there it's arguably referential. If anything, I would say the peculiar angle of the projected shadow figure is entirely intentional, as if it followed the direction of the key light, it would not appear in the frame. As Zach Sutton notes in his analysis of the image, there's a shadow in an odd direction behind him. But half of his face is in shadow, and the other half is somewhat neutral, giving away neither personality nor motive, but suggesting a duality in identity, a light and a dark, a public and a hidden. In it, we can read everything we could ever want to know about them. What's the most powerful part of a person? Their face. The camera is about on level with him, as opposed to giving him the appearance of leering over it.Īnd then, there's the lighting.
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For a man whose personality and persona are nearly unavoidable, he rather disappears into the background a bit here almost as if this is a voyeuristic shot, a glance at something that should not be seen. His posture in hunched. First, it's shot from a rather marked distance Trump himself only occupies about a third of the frame horizontally. The office of president of the United States is arguably the most powerful position in the world, but to me, this portrait conveys little of that, at least not overtly. If you ask me, it's a bizarre portrait on its own. Let's first establish a baseline by evaluating the Trump cover and placing it in context with the most recent Person of the Year covers that came before it. However, a new theory emerged: Time was deliberately referencing Hitler. Time was quick to point out that this was coincidental, particularly given that many past cover shots have resulted in a similar situation, including those for multiple popes, presidents, and celebrities, among others. This cover first generated controversy when some asserted that the "M" in "TIME" was deliberately placed to form devil's horns on Trump's head. Let's start with the 2016 Time Person of the Year Cover, which features Donald Trump. Note: Let me preempt this article by saying I am entirely setting aside my personal political leanings here what you're about to read is an objective photographic analysis and a stark reminder of the power of photography. The Internet seems to be split on if that's the case. has done the most to influence the events of the year." However, the cover photo is peculiar in several ways - enough so to raise the question of if it is an intentional reference to one of history's most evil and infamous figures. That's unsurprising when you remember that the title goes to the person who "for better or for worse. Time recently announced that it had named Donald Trump its Person of the Year.