Although some of us do not have patience, the ‘influencers’ do not tire of sharing their secret: take 200 photos and hopefully there will be one in which you do well or how you wish to be perceived (handsome, young, happy, busy, interesting, powerful…). The communication teams of any government do the same. The well-known photographer of Barack Obama, pete souza, highlighted from his work the importance of filtering all the material that he had captured in a day with the president of the United States. Perhaps he had taken what any connoisseur of photography would consider the best work ever seen, but if at that moment (for whatever reason) that portrait did not meet or favor the interests of his boss, it would be discarded. Being clear that images are messages and learning to decipher the information they hide or that they want to sneak in is vital if one wishes to survive in the world of appearances and social media.
The photo selected by Pedro Sánchez’s team to give us the impression that the president dominated the international political sphere in the G20 summit is a clear example. In it we see that the Spaniard occupies the center (protagonist) of the image and appears surrounded by Biden, Scholz, Macron and Sunak. What a difference to when we felt some pity for Mariano Rajoy who the rest of the leaders left isolated at a table in this type of meeting… It is evident that President Sánchez has a clear communicative strength compared to all his predecessors in office: he is the first to speak English fluently. Another advantage of the socialist is his height and in this image that superiority is verified: he is above the American president and the British prime minister who are sitting, but he also stands out above the German chancellor and the French leader who, like him, are standing.
In non-verbal communication, occupying space (either high or wide) conveys power. Also, knowing that he was participating in an emergency meeting organized by President Biden because of a missile that fell in Poland helped this perception that Spain is beginning to paint something on the delicate and sensitive issues that concern the great world powers. In fact, even though we were unaware of the context of the moment, the gestures of all of them also helped us to appreciate the tension of the moment. Even when your back is turned, it is understood that it is Rishi Sunak the one who intervenes and the others listen and react bodily to what he narrates or proposes. A Biden, with his hand over his mouth, makes him uncomfortable or disapproves of what is being proposed. It is even more evident in the case of the German who crosses his arms (protects), looks askance and raises an eyebrow (distrust). Sánchez’s face is also serious. But up to here the visual elements that gave us an account of how Pedro Sánchez supposedly cut the cod…
because a suspicion that Not all that glitters is gold when you look at a couple of details. The first is that despite the centrality in the staging by Sánchez, we see that he is behind the shoulders of the German and the French. Therefore, Spanish occupies a second rank in the conversation. What’s more, he surely has arrived and has placed himself where he has found a hole, without further ado. Because neither Scholz nor Macron open up to introduce him into the crowd and not turn away. Second, the photo chosen by the Spanish government shows Macron in the middle of a gesture: they have caught him moving his arm and his hand is blurred. Therefore, everything indicates that such a burst has not been ruled out because there is a clear intention on the part of the person who publishes it.
To verify the assumption (and corroborate the reading of the image) it is always advisable to look for an audiovisual source that offers us more context and information than a single photograph (an instant) can give us. In this case we did not have this complementary material, but we did have another photo of the same moment and that curiously was the chosen by berlin to highlight the figure of its chancellor.
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Here the film changes substantially. More actors appear on the scene (among them, the Canadian Prime Minister, the Spanish Foreign Minister and some advisors) and the socialist is no longer the protagonist. That preferential position is now occupied by Macron. With the exception of Biden who is still uncomfortable (finger in the mouth and nose area) before Sunak’s speech; everyone now directs their concerned glances towards the German (who continues to fold his arms, in disagreement with the British prime minister).
This image also reveals the moving gesture (before blurred) of the Frenchman that we could not decode in the other publication. The Frenchman is playing with one of his rings (disloyalty) while he watches Scholz (it is public and notorious that Franco-German relations are not going through his best moment). And more than the disengaged jaw of the Spanish president before what is happening (it seems that he has received an informative left hand), that unusual pose of him with the legs open (mark territory). The same is true of the Canadian prime minister. Popular for female leadership, Trudeau appears with his hands in his pockets and his pelvis protruding (here is the alpha). men and their wars. But that is another layer of the portrait that generally only women read…