[Unstagram] Political Photos and 'Photogenic'

Expressions and gestures in photos reveal one's life and attitude.
Disasters caused by desires exceeding reality are also captured in images.

On October 30, as President Donald Trump departed for Korea after his visit to Japan, a single black-and-white photo of President Trump with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was posted on his social media account. There was no caption or byline-just the photo itself. The picture appears to have been taken on October 28, right after the U.S.-Japan summit. In truth, the photo needed no words. With the entourage posing as if for a mise-en-scene, it looked like a movie poster. This single image seemed to encapsulate the current relationship between the two countries. Someone even commented on Facebook that it looked like a “wealthy big brother and his youngest sister.”

President Donald Trump Truth

Just as with the previously reported scene of him leaping with one hand raised high in front of U.S. soldiers, his petite frame and lively smiling eyes are, quite literally, “photogenic.” Anyone’s expressions and demeanor reveal their life and attitude. When this is captured by the camera and the resulting image evokes a sense of likability, we call it photogenic. It is different from simply being attractive or handsome. The Korean idiom “the camera loves them” comes closer to the meaning.

The novelist Oscar Wilde wrote in “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” “Beauty is a form of genius-indeed, it is higher, as it needs no explanation.” In today’s image-driven society, being photogenic could also be considered a form of genius. People open their hearts to what appears to be an unadorned, authentic self.

President Trump may not be naturally photogenic, but he is acutely aware of how he appears and how he is photographed. His life is filled with eye-catching moments, and with his innate sense for publicity, he enjoys both explosive popularity and intense dislike, often due to his eccentric behavior. He knows exactly which images attract the public and serve his political goals-or make money. At the signing ceremony for the executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports, he positioned female athletes as a backdrop. At the signing for the executive order reducing the Department of Education, he decorated the White House like an elementary school classroom and seated students there. Both photographers and viewers are inevitably drawn to such vivid scenes. After the 2020 presidential election, he even made money by selling his own mugshot taken during his brief detention. He is a genius at image marketing.

Those who have a strong desire to be seen but lack substance tend to rely on backgrounds and props. When used well, these can amplify the effect, but when ambition races too far ahead of reality, it can lead to disaster. This is evident in scenes at parliamentary audits where people hold up slanderous doctored photos, wave papers filled with insults and curses, or even resort to physical shoving. Such images will linger for a long time. Yet, the commotion continues because, no matter how much criticism they receive, they believe there is more to gain by spreading these images. The shame, however, falls to the people.