In the last few weeks the White House released the first official portrait of the Obama First Family. I’m not sure I have rights to publish the picture (and I wanted to keep all the photos on here my own) but it is available on the White House Flickr site.
In keeping with previous administrations, Annie Leibovitz was asked to take the picture.
Hang on Annie, call that a family portrait? No white background? No selective colouring? No crazy jumping around the place?
No gimmicks, no nonsense, just classic portraiture. A portrait in any medium is more than a simple likeness: it conveys some element of the character of the subject.
Liebovitz has shown us a father, a mother and two daughters, distinct characters but united as a family. Even in this most public of families, in the face of all we know about the ability of the Administration to spin and manage presentation, the image is credible.
Annie Liebovitz’s own problems have been well documented recently but her ability as a portrait photographer is unchallenged.
Good post Rob. The best portraits are the simplest ones, with the focus on the subject.