serious. Ominous. “Message Image”.
Here are some of the descriptions The latest official portrait of Donald Trump, photographed by his chief photographer, Daniel Torak. In the photo, the president-elect has a stern expression, raised eyebrows.
“The official portrait of the president is the most printed image of the president ever seen,” former White House photographer Eric Draper told the BBC.
He worked for George W. Bush during his eight years as president, taking both of his official portraits.
Mr. Draper’s first impression of the Trump image was that it had been “heavily manipulated” by both studio lighting and post-shoot retouching.
The photo appeared to use “monster” lighting, he added, to dramatically illuminate the president-elect from below and make his eyes pop.
The lighting setup gives the image an “ominous” look often seen in horror films, said Eliska Sky, a portrait photographer at the London Institute of Photography. She compared the image of Trump to a boxer before a fight.
According to Paul Duerink, senior lecturer in documentary photography at Swansea College of Art, lighting “assumes seriousness and intent”.
This image is impressive, he added, because the light source in most photos comes from above, like the sun or the ceiling, and the reversal of the source in this photo “tends to really affect us.”
