We just KNEW journalism, photo journalism and political discussion would come down to THIS and although we resisted joining the pack, here is THE photo (we just wanted toilet you know…):
This photo of a you-can-be-sure-it-was-meant-to-be-private note by President George Bush asking for a bathroom break has become a hot topic on talk shows and in weblogs but now PD Online says people shouldn’t be pissed off at the photographer for the bathrooom note photo:
Don’t blame the photographer.
That’s the message from Gary Hershorn, a picture editor for Reuters, about the photo yesterday that shows President George W. Bush writing an all-too-human note during a UN meeting.
Bush is shown writing: “I think I may need a bathroom break. Is this possible.”
The photo, which quickly became fodder for blogs and e-mails among friends, was taken by Rick Wilking, a contract photographer based in Denver who recently covered the flooding in New Orleans.
Hershorn, Reuters’ news editor for pictures for the Americas, says he’s responsible for zooming in on the note and deciding to transmit the photo to Reuters clients. He says Wilking didn’t know what the note said when he shot the picture.
“I’m so adamant that Rick has nothing to do with this. He was just the guy who pushed the button,” Hershorn says.
In response to the attention the photo is getting, Reuters’ spokeswoman in London released a two-sentence statement about the picture: “The photographer and editors on this story were looking for other angles in their coverage of this event, something that went beyond the stock pictures of talking heads that these kind of forums usually offer. This picture certainly does that.”
So how did the picture happen?
According to Hershorn, Wilking was one of several photographers covering the United Nations Security Council meeting between about 11 and noon yesterday. He was part of a pool stationed on a balcony that faced Bush’s back; a group of White House photographers was on a balcony facing the president.
We have three comments on this:
- The photo captured what was at the moment the number one priority for the President.
- It could have been worse: it could have shown the President writing it while sitting on a toilet holding a cell phone — which would have been a REAL talking head photo.
- The whole story sounds like a lot of crap.
UPDATE: Gelf Magazine has an original interview here with the now (in)famous photographer.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.