[size=14pt]8 Photos You Didn't See From Obama's Trip to South Africa[/size]

Nina Ippolito | 13 hours ago | 69 Comments

On Tuesday, conservative news outlets in the United States decided that the best way to commemorate the life of Nelson Mandela, and to report on the memorial services in his honor, was to manufacture a controversy about an AFP photo of President Barack Obama shooting a selfie with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. According to Fox News, the “international incident” was so bad that, “The tsk-tisk-ing could be heard across continents.”

Liberal news outlets countered with a photograph from former President George W. Bush’s Instagram feed, taken at the same memorial, in which he’s seen posing with pop star Bono.

Two things were lost amid the nonsensical partisan wrangling. First, the furor shamefully overshadowed the memorial service itself, and the heartfelt messages that were delivered by Mandela’s family and colleagues. Second, such outcries overlook the close quarters in which our Democratic and Republican politicians actually live and work.

Candid images from White House photographer Pete Souza tell another story.

1.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/1462705_1s3_jpg8d520c9c58826f0cafd55cd56dd80f63
Via: Pete Souza

Looking at the individual AFP and Instagram shots, you would have no idea that Obama and Bush traveled to South Africa together on Air Force One.


2.
www.nairaland.com/attachments/1462706_1s32_jpgc2f74ff447fd09bf13c72a117bf92a00
Via Pete Souza

You would miss the fact that they and their wives dined together on the plane ...

3.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/1462707_1s34_jpgcc7c96e18c793402d412d7bfc545aa26

Via: Pete Souza

... or that Bush dazzled Michelle Obama and a smiling Hillary Clinton with photos of his recent paintings.

4.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/1462708_1s35_jpg0d0f5cab0ae415cee45ec26b7bc58008
Via Pete Souza

You wouldn't see that Obama managed to sneak in his own photo op with Bono ...

5.

http://instagram.com/p/hvrQdBAmz5/

... or that the Bushes and Clintons spent the day together at FNB Stadium.

6.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/1462710_1s36_jpg55811d20852a6691b9d6b2d6f4cfd7f8
Via Pete Souza

It’s almost as if photographers go out of their way to present isolated images of political figures ...

7.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/1462711_1s37_jpg257eb41aa30a31fce4e6ed10a3f894ee

... when in reality, politicians spend their days surrounded by people ...

8.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/1462712_1s39_jpg21ccb9d96fa59f6684ae05ee5b7f7cc5

... and by political adversaries and allies alike. 

Perhaps, instead of giving in to the frantic us-or-them discourse proffered by the media (Funeral selfies! Handshakes! Ted Cruz!), it's time that we acknowledge that conservative and liberal politicians spend more time together, and have more in common with one another, than we’d like to believe.

uj_sizzle: Where are the pictures

naptu2:

Scroll up

uj_sizzle:





But no.5?

deols: All of these dont change Obama's funeral faux pas.

naptu2:

What faux pas?

deols:

Just expressing this as an attempt to neutralise the 'outrage' on his 'non-sad' mood, taking pix with that Danish PM like they were at a party, etc as carried by some US dailies.

prymesolution: [img]http://2.bp..com/-wnxOc7N7p2w/Uqk5mWTPVpI/AAAAAAAADjg/OMY0fkab9BU/s576/obama-selfie.JPG[/img]

The saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is true. However, we don't realize is that those 'thousand words' may be true or completely false. So we should be careful about the assumptions we make based on a photo. Sometimes it's just not what it seem.

That's the case of the Obama selfie photos taken at Nelson Mandela's memorial service held on Tuesday, December 10, 2013. Of everything that happened at the event, the 'most important' news that made headline on various media outlets was President Barack Obama taking a selfie with UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt while first lady Michelle Obama seemed peeved as the three leaders took the picture.

Roberto Schmidt, the photographer who took the viral shot posted this article online regarding media obsession with the pictures:

So here’s the photo, my photo, which quickly lit up the world’s social networks and news websites. The “selfie” of three world leaders who, during South Africa’s farewell to Nelson Mandela, were messing about like kids instead of behaving with the mournful gravitas one might expect.

In general on this blog, photojournalists tell the story behind a picture they’ve taken. I’ve done this for images from Pakistan, and India, where I am based. And here I am again, but this time the picture comes from a stadium in Soweto, and shows people taking a photo of themselves. I guess it’s a sign of our times that somehow this image seemed to get more attention than the event itself. Go figure.

[...] So Obama took his place amid these leaders who’d gathered from all corners of the globe. Among them was British Prime Minister David Cameron, as well as a woman who I wasn’t able to immediately identify. I later learned it was the Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt. I’m a German-Colombian based in India, so I don’t feel too bad I didn’t recognize her! At the time, I thought it must have been one of Obama’s many staffers.

Anyway, suddenly this woman pulled out her mobile phone and took a photo of herself smiling with Cameron and the US president. I captured the scene reflexively. All around me in the stadium, South Africans were dancing, singing and laughing to honor their departed leader. It was more like a carnival atmosphere, not at all morbid. The ceremony had already gone on for two hours and would last another two. The atmosphere was totally relaxed – I didn’t see anything shocking in my viewfinder, president of the US or not. We are in Africa.

I later read on social media that Michelle Obama seemed to be rather peeved on seeing the Danish prime minister take the picture. But photos can lie. In reality, just a few seconds earlier the first lady was herself joking with those around her, Cameron and Schmidt included. Her stern look was captured by chance.

I took these photos totally spontaneously, without thinking about what impact they might have. At the time, I thought the world leaders were simply acting like human beings, like me and you. I doubt anyone could have remained totally stony faced for the duration of the ceremony, while tens of thousands of people were celebrating in the stadium. For me, the behavior of these leaders in snapping a selfie seems perfectly natural.

I see nothing to complain about, and probably would have done the same in their place. The AFP team worked hard to display the reaction that South African people had for the passing of someone they consider as a father. We moved about 500 pictures, trying to portray their true feelings, and this seemingly trivial image seems to have eclipsed much of this collective work.

It was interesting to see politicians in a human light because usually when we see them it is in such a controlled environment. Maybe this would not be such an issue if we, as the press, would have more access to dignitaries and be able to show they are human as the rest of us.

I confess too that it makes me a little sad we are so obsessed with day-to-day trivialities, instead of things of true importance. - Richard Schmidt | AFP

See more pictures and other Obama-Michelle moments that never really got talked about.

paniki: I was surprised by this pic. Didn't think the president of America would be stuck in traffic.

[img]http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/imagecache/gallery_img_full/image/image_file/06_g1a5919.jpg[/img]