serious. Ominous. “Image message”.
Those are some descriptions The latest official photo of Donald Trump, It was captured by his chief photographer, Daniel Turok. In the photo, the president-elect appears with a stern face and his eyes closed.
“The official portrait of the president is the most printed and most viewed photograph of the president ever,” Eric Draper, a former White House photographer, told the BBC.
He worked for George W. Bush throughout his eight-year presidency, and took two official portraits of him.
Draper's first impression of the Trump portrait was that it had been “heavily manipulated” through studio lighting and post-shooting editing.
He added that the photo appeared to use “brutal” lighting to dramatically highlight the president-elect from below and highlight his eyes.
Eliska Skye, a portrait photographer at the London Institute of Photography, said the lighting settings give the image an “ominous” look that we often see in horror films. She compared the portrayal of Trump to a boxer before the fight.
The lighting “suggests seriousness and intent,” according to Paul Durenckx, a senior lecturer in documentary photography at Swansea College of Art.
This image is striking, he added, because the light source in most images comes from above, such as the sun or ceiling lights, and the heart of the source in this image “tends to really affect us.”
Many on social media compared the photo to the “mug shot” Donald Trump took in the Fulton County Jail in Georgia after he was accused of trying to overturn his loss in the 2020 election — a charge Trump denies.
Photography YouTuber Jared Bolin said Discuss the picture With Mr. Turok and was told that the mug was an inspiration.
“The mug shot was one of the most searched for ever, perhaps ever,” Bolin claims Turok said. Turok did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.
Taken in 2023, the mug shot has become part of American culture, adorning everything from coffee cups to T-shirts.
The style of Trump's new photo differs from the look of his 2017 photo and photos of previous presidents, including George W. Bush.
Draper told the BBC: “You definitely take pictures to please the client, and in this case, I think that's the kind of image they wanted to shoot.”
He recalls sitting down with then-President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush to ponder a selection of images before choosing their favorite.
“The idea was to make it look like nice, fun lighting, and make it look like a professional photo, with a nice expression because these photos would be welcoming to people as they walk into their post office,” he said.
Andrew Parsons is a political photographer who has worked with four British Prime Ministers from David Cameron to Liz Truss, as well as Boris Johnson for 13 years.
He said about Trump's picture: “It's a picture of a message, and I'm delivering a message to you.” “It's not like an outright laugh, it's a stern, harsh look straight down the barrel of the lens.”
By contrast, Parsons said the 2017 edition was a “portrait of Donald Trump's businessman.”
He said it is difficult to overstate the importance of political images like Trump's. “A photo can make or break a political campaign.”