The art of the Vladimir Putin photoshoot

The art of the Vladimir Putin photoshoot

There are photoshoots, there are presidential photoshoots, and then there are the presidential photoshoots of Vladimir Putin. Rarely has the leader of a global power embraced staged advertising with such creative, if cliche, fervor, not just fueling the global desire for a caricature of himself, but actually creating it.

Cue, for example, his latest propaganda foray, launched by the Kremlin, when bilateral relations with the United States turned cold, and with the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s description of Putin as “Vladimir, the underpants poisoner” still echoing in the air.

In a series of photos of Putin on a weekend excursion to the snowy Siberian taiga, the 68-year-old president is shown in his usual favorite outdoor setting, showing his connection to nature, manly toughness, and appreciation for the country. . In the vastness of the largely empty landscape, it looms large. At least that was probably the idea.

In this photo made available on Sunday, March 21, 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin walks in a taiga forest in Russia’s Siberian region. Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will spend this weekend in Siberia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo via AP)

He is, to be specific, trapped, as if by chance! – looking serious and steely behind the wheel of a camouflage-covered off-road vehicle so giant it seems like nothing could stop it; posing knee-deep in a snowy drift while wearing a luxurious yet cozy shearling jacket, matching pants, and an ivory turtleneck and gazing penetratingly into the future; leisurely navigating a rickety bridge over a frozen river with his defense minister, Sergei Shoygu, behind; and then enjoy an invigorating outdoor picnic of sausages and veggies with Shoygu (who wears a matching suit) at a table covered with a white cloth, fur blankets thrown over the benches, and metal cups raised in harmony.

Cold? How cold

In this photo available Sunday, March 21, 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin poses for a photo in front of a tracked all-terrain vehicle as Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu sits in a taiga forest in the region. Siberian from Russia. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo via AP)

Most political leaders favor authorized photographs of themselves looking serious and hard at work in the office. President Barack Obama, for example, often posed behind his desk with his sleeves rolled up. French President Emmanuel Macron released a famous “making of” video of his official portrait, in which he shows himself carefully placing various symbolic accessories on his desk.

But Putin has always chosen a different approach. One that emphasizes the physical over pushing papers, and talks about old stereotypes of virility, strength, and machismo. Not to mention good health. The kind that allows you to stay in the office for a long time.

It has become a kind of absurd art form in its own right.

In this photo available Sunday, March 21, 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin poses for a photo in a tracked all-terrain vehicle as Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu sits indoors in a taiga forest in the Russian region of Siberia in Russia. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo via AP)

He was photographed, for example, in a similar sheepskin suit in 2010, albeit without the matching fur hat and mittens, riding through the Siberian snow and on a trip to the Russian Arctic, hugging a polar bear. He has ridden a black leather motorbike (a photo that was so popular, a British company, Matchless London, named a jacket in his honor), played ice hockey (scoring many goals) and trained with the Russian judo team.

This man-of-action framing reached its heyday in 2017, when Putin was photographed mostly bare-chested while hunting, spearfishing, and engaging in manly activities in the open air of Siberia. Afterward, he was caught sunbathing shirtless, his eyes hidden by black shadows.

“How not to vote for a torso like that?” a Moscow newspaper asked at the time. It probably just seemed like a rhetorical question.

(Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo via AP)

By 2019, Putin had turned his image creation to shots that referenced his bond with the earth rather than his mastery of it, posing while sitting peacefully in a field with a bouquet of wildflowers that he presumably collected himself. or leaning on a steep hill. . However, he remained disguised in shades of olive green and silhouettes that seemed uniform. The implicit message was still difficult. It was more of tough love.

The new photos from Siberia are firmly in line with this tradition. If they’re not exactly subtle, in fact, the image-making is so obvious that it has inspired a fair amount of teasing and social media memes, it’s also true that when it comes to Putin, subtlety has never really been a part of it. .. good photo.