Photo Ops

I am probably most people when I say I sometimes find myself getting tired of photo ops involving politicians who are obviously using them to gain what they believe is positive visibility. For instance, nearly every year we see the President of the United States posing with members of the team that won the Super Bowl. Or we will see a picture of the President or another prominent politician chatting with "regular folk" in the check-out line of a grocery store. Lately, I find myself wondering if these things really work. Do they make me feel more warm and fuzzy toward that elected official?  


Before attempting an answer, it is important to point out that photo ops are something in which all of us partake. If you do not believe me, then open up any one of your family photo albums and you will see a multitude of photo ops: great grandmother with her daughter, granddaughter, and great granddaughter; father and son standing in foot-deep snow as they prepare to shovel the driveway; or mom in the kitchen readying herself to fix what looks like the family Thanksgiving turkey. In my case, there is a picture of me standing in front of a sign at the foot of the Grand Tetons warning hikers to be wary of bears. (The purpose, of course, is to make everyone think I am a brave soul.)


Sure, photo ops are blatant attempts to generate free publicity. At the same time, they are also designed to bring attention to a particular topic or unique occurrence in a way that is fun and, depending upon the quality of the photo, interesting. Public officials live or die based on the amount of good will they are able to generate from those they seek to serve. We should not be so harsh in our rush to criticize them for using photo ops to do this. After all, we do it, too. The trick is for us to not rely solely on that one photo to judge the official or the topic it is attempting to showcase. Photos are a snapshot. More to the point, they are a window to gaining deeper insight into what is being displayed.