Mulling on Mueller, Mo’ Beto, and So Much Posterizing: Our Social Week

With all the anxiety and anticipation over the Mueller Report, the release of a slight Justice Department summary exonerating Trump just led to a deeper foreboding. Bereft any lingering hope of the special prosecutor revealing something of immediate consequence for this administration, instead we were left with more of the same. Following the release, the anxious mood in Washington was captured by photographers, variously, in Mueller’s wistful expressions and the late winter landscape of the city itself. Freelancer David Butow may have captured it best, huddled outside the White House a few hours after the report dropped, in the menacing shadows of secret service guard dogs scampering across POTUS’s front lawn.

Elsewhere, our social feeds tracked the ongoing normalizing of conservative extremism, an insidious use of humor and pictures to delegitimize climate change action, and the continued life of last week’s now iconic shot of New Zealand president Jacinda Ardern. The meaning of tragedies—and their representations—ripple over time. Let’s hope Ardern’s solidarity gesture continues to coincide with measurable change around the globe.

– Rian Dundon

#CliffOwen has the pic of the day, maybe longer: #RobertMueller passing the @WhiteHouse after leaving church Sunday, while some odd person wrangles a cop. Hard not to see the sudden look at the camera as a sign-off face. Best case, this is a very bad movie. @AP #MuellerReport pic.twitter.com/Qz73lGEwhV

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) March 24, 2019

“The Mueller Report.” Gabriella Demczuk’s photo project, #InvestigatingAPresident, is far more detailed than this. But the latest installment makes for telling commentary as the gaslit media melts down over…not so much. 📷 @gdemczuk for @nytimes #BarrLetter #MuellerReport pic.twitter.com/QwzPqySa09

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) March 25, 2019

In “U.S. vs. Michael T. Flynn,” from her photo project, #InvestigatingAPresident for @NYTimes, Gabriella Demczuk reminds that speaking truth to power is often terribly qualified. These Flynn documents, as one image, reminds us how much we can’t see from what we can. 📷 @gdemczuk pic.twitter.com/qiEaSI7Hrb

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) March 25, 2019

When a photo about the DC weather three days ago fits the hell, fire and brimstone gripping the place right now. @mrchavezphoto #BarrLetter #MuellersReport pic.twitter.com/upofnKTOR5

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) March 26, 2019

Since we’ve been looking at text and photo compositions, here’s one more. The pic is by Philip Montgomery. The spread is at @TheAtlantic—the text, framing #JohnBolton as a lesser evil in the current regime, is the latest example of normalizing. 📷 @philip_nyc pic.twitter.com/ZK6GbCmYqD

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) March 26, 2019

Our tabloid culture: When the media (this leading the online edition) privileges politics and personality over policy. pic.twitter.com/2tIHLtVwpy

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) March 26, 2019

 

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Yeah, we’re still on O’Rourke…. The pic by Melina Mara is a tour de force if you feel Beto (off with his head!) is a lightweight, is a too high and mighty (cue the “stands on things” meme), or has notes of Elvis, the Pelvis.⠀ ⠀ Reposting @washpostphoto:⠀ …⠀ “Photo by @melinamara — Newly announced 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke meets Iowa voters at the Beancounter Coffeehouse in downtown Burlington, Iowa @washingtonpost #Beto #iowa #election #pr #marketing #sexappeal #candidates #politics #campaign #campaign2020 #gender #men #fans #height #heightdifference #altitude #popular

A post shared by Reading The Pictures (@readingthepictures) on Mar 22, 2019 at 10:20am PDT

Actually, nothing to laugh at—the delegitimizing of pictures, especially as extreme weather, and scenes of climate change become more undeniable. #visualsalad #GreenNewDeal https://t.co/gdCukRytWN pic.twitter.com/k95pJayguw

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) March 27, 2019

Call it fitting recognition on the the world’s tallest building. In these times, and in gratitude, a gesture equal to the scale. #BurjKhalifa #JacindaArdern 📷 @HHShkMohd pic.twitter.com/QYvTl9UZtQ

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) March 24, 2019

Photo: David Butow via Instagram. March 22, 2019. Caption: Shadows from a Secret Service dog are projected onto an exterior wall of the White House this evening, a few hours after Robert Mueller submitted his long-awaited report to the Attorney General. POTUS is in Florida.