The Situation Room Photo

[Era Might]

Have you seen the Situation Room photo of the president and others watching the Osama Bin Laden operation unfold? I keep seeing it described as "iconic." There is nothing "iconic" about this photo. Hilary Clinton and President Obama both look foolish in the photo. Clinton looks like she's watching Michael Jackson's "Thriller" with her hand over her mouth in terror, and President Obama...well, there's a few things to note about him. His face is toooo serious, he looks like he's "in a zone" during a basketball game. He's off in the corner, not in the center. And he's in a windbreaker. As for the rest of the photo...Vice President Biden is all by his lonesome with an awkward sidways look on his face. There's a lady in the back of the room looking in like, "Hey guys I'm here too can I see? can I see?" And the rest of the people are just standing around. The only person in the photo who comes across in any noteworthy way is the military guy in the middle, with his uniform on and doing something on his laptop.

This photo is not "iconic."

[Lil Red]

agreed.

[Luigi]

"Iconic" is currently one of the most overused words in the English language. People throw it in when they don't know what else to say but they want to sound impressive and add gravitas.

[Aloysius]

[quote name='Luigi' timestamp='1305388680' post='2241352']
"Iconic" is currently one of the most overused words in the English language. People throw it in when they don't know what else to say but they want to sound impressive and add gravitas.
[/quote]
this post is iconic.

[Vincent Vega]

I would call it historic, but not iconic. The following photos are iconic:
[img]http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/silence/archives/kissing.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m179/pinguy1982/littlerockme8.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m179/pinguy1982/firstflightsu3.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.design.caltech.edu/erik/Misc/firemen_flag.jpg[/img]
[img]http://worldsfamousphotos.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/tiananmen_square.jpg[/img]
[img]http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/Content/afghan-girl-portrait-article-phot-127438-in.jpg[/img]
[img]http://blog.lib.umn.edu/olso4158/architecture/iwo-jima-flag%5B1%5D.gif[/img]

Photos that capture the face of the world changing or that change the way we look at the world are iconic. The picture in the Situation Room is merely a documentation of a historical moment.

Edited May 14, 2011 by USAirwaysIHS

[Era Might]

[quote name='USAirwaysIHS' timestamp='1305400707' post='2241471']
I would call it historic, but not iconic. The following photos are iconic:
[/quote]
I wouldn't even call it "historic." I suppose in a literal sense it is "historic" since, as you say, it captures an historical moment. But there is nothing in the photo to even indicate what that moment is. And the moment really has nothing to do with that photo...the moment is happening halfway around the world.

[Maximilianus]

[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cpu6xkVOXu4/TcMW-W1YlQI/AAAAAAAACg0/iB04OYM_-JQ/s1600/obama.jpg[/img]

[Maximilianus]

That's what really happened in the situation room...HT [url="http://actsoftheapostasy.blogspot.com/"]Acts of the Apostacy[/url]

[Nihil Obstat]

[img]http://s3.amazonaws.com/kym-assets/photos/images/original/000/120/696/sad-keanu-situation-room.jpg[/img]

I'm not at all convinced that the picture in question was not a staged photo-op.

[Era Might]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1305409252' post='2241538']I'm not at all convinced that the picture in question was not a staged photo-op.
[/quote]
I doubt it was staged in the sense that they got everyone in place to take a photo. But I'd say it was definitely a deliberately chosen photo...that wasn't the only photo they had, but that's the one they wanted the public to see. President Obama clearly is aware that he is being photographed...hence the over-serious face. Apparently Hilary Clinton says she was in the middle of a cough, she wasn't holding her hand over her mouth in terror...but either way, this photo certainly doesn't make her look "iconic."

Edited May 14, 2011 by Era Might

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Era Might' timestamp='1305409919' post='2241541']
I doubt it was staged in the sense that they got everyone in place to take a photo. But I'd say it was definitely a deliberately chosen photo...that wasn't the only photo they had, but that's the one they wanted the public to see. Obama clearly is aware that he is being photographed...hence the over-serious face. Apparently Hilary Clinton says she was in the middle of a cough, she wasn't holding her hand over her mouth in terror...but either way, this photo certainly doesn't make her look "iconic."
[/quote]
Well I simply find it....... a large pill to swallow we'll say, that they were watching this 'live feed', yet according to White House officials no video of the raid exists. Someone forgot to press record? Seems a bit rich to me.


ETA: The flip side of this is potentially worse. That would be that they were indeed watching it live, and that there is a video, but they don't want to release the video to you, the American public, who frankly deserve to know how your own military operates in foreign countries.

Edited May 14, 2011 by Nihil Obstat

[rachael]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1305409252' post='2241538']
[img]http://s3.amazonaws.com/kym-assets/photos/images/original/000/120/696/sad-keanu-situation-room.jpg[/img]

I'm not at all convinced that the picture in question was not a staged photo-op.
[/quote]
When did Keanu Reeves join the White House staff?

[Maximilianus]

[quote name='rachael' timestamp='1305426786' post='2241630']
When did Keanu Reeves join the White House staff?
[/quote]

the Pres. appointed him a Czar

[MargaretTeresa]

This, maybe, is possibly iconic just because how stupid I think they look

[img]http://www.starzlife.com/files/2011/05/Situation-Room-marvel-picture1.jpg[/img]