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Damage Control: "Selfie At A Funeral" Photographer Explains What Really Happened
Following yesterday's "selfie-gate" furore at Nelson Mandela's memorial service, it is perhaps unsurprising that the AFP photographer responsible for the series of incriminating photos come out with a wordy (and picturey) response to explain what we all saw. Roberto Schmidt notes, "it was interesting to see politicians in a human light because usually when we see them it is in such a controlled environment. Maybe this would not be such an issue if we, as the press, would have more access to dignitaries and be able to show they are human as the rest of us." Indeed, especially for a president whose only focus is to be seen as "one of the people" and not actually doing, you know, work to help the people.
Via Roberto Schmidt of AFP blog,
So here’s the photo, my photo, which quickly lit up the world’s social networks and news websites. The “selfie” of three world leaders who, during South Africa’s farewell to Nelson Mandela, were messing about like kids instead of behaving with the mournful gravitas one might expect.
In general on this blog, photojournalists tell the story behind a picture they’ve taken. I’ve done this for images from Pakistan, and India, where I am based. And here I am again, but this time the picture comes from a stadium in Soweto, and shows people taking a photo of themselves. I guess it’s a sign of our times that somehow this image seemed to get more attention than the event itself. Go figure.
Anyway, I arrived in South Africa with several other AFP journalists to cover the farewell and funeral ceremonies for Nelson Mandela. We were in the Soccer City stadium in Soweto, under a driving rain. I’d been there since the crack of dawn and when I took this picture, the memorial ceremony had already been going on for more than two hours.
From the podium, Obama had just qualified Mandela as a “giant of history who moved a nation towards justice." After his stirring eulogy, America’s first black president sat about 150 metres across from where I was set up. He was surrounded by other foreign dignitaries and I decided to follow his movements with the help of my 600 mm x 2 telephoto lens.
So Obama took his place amid these leaders who’d gathered from all corners of the globe. Among them was British Prime Minister David Cameron, as well as a woman who I wasn’t able to immediately identify. I later learned it was the Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt. I’m a German-Colombian based in India, so I don’t feel too bad I didn’t recognize her! At the time, I thought it must have been one of Obama’s many staffers.
Anyway, suddenly this woman pulled out her mobile phone and took a photo of herself smiling with Cameron and the US president. I captured the scene reflexively. All around me in the stadium, South Africans were dancing, singing and laughing to honour their departed leader. It was more like a carnival atmosphere, not at all morbid. The ceremony had already gone on for two hours and would last another two. The atmosphere was totally relaxed – I didn’t see anything shocking in my viewfinder, president of the US or not. We are in Africa.
(AFP Photo / Roberto Schmidt)
I later read on social media that Michelle Obama seemed to be rather peeved on seeing the Danish prime minister take the picture. But photos can lie. In reality, just a few seconds earlier the first lady was herself joking with those around her, Cameron and Schmidt included. Her stern look was captured by chance.
I took these photos totally spontaneously, without thinking about what impact they might have. At the time, I thought the world leaders were simply acting like human beings, like me and you. I doubt anyone could have remained totally stony faced for the duration of the ceremony, while tens of thousands of people were celebrating in the stadium. For me, the behaviour of these leaders in snapping a selfie seems perfectly natural. I see nothing to complain about, and probably would have done the same in their place. The AFP team worked hard to display the reaction that South African people had for the passing of someone they consider as a father. We moved about 500 pictures, trying to portray their true feelings, and this seemingly trivial image seems to have eclipsed much of this collective work.
(AFP Photo / Roberto Schmidt)
It was interesting to see politicians in a human light because usually when we see them it is in such a controlled environment. Maybe this would not be such an issue if we, as the press, would have more access to dignitaries and be able to show they are human as the rest of us.
I confess too that it makes me a little sad we are so obsessed with day-to-day trivialities, instead of things of true importance.
During Mandela's memorial service in Johannesburg. (AFP Photo / Roberto Schmidt)
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Post-spun or not, here is the just released take of the Taiwan animators on the Obama gaffe:
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"The advance of world Communism"
What a blind sick fuck!
'Much Ado about Nothing' but shared air; get a life. Forever young knows the truth.
GW Bush was there. It is his fault
Blame Canada.
"GW Bush was there..."
Shrub couldn't have been there. If he leaves the country he will be arrested for war crimes.
Barky wanted some of that Northern European/Rothschild pootang.
Be like Tiger.
Has a former president ever gone through a divorce while still in office? I bet the Obama household is crazy right now...
M: "Do you have any idea how much of an ass you made of yourself and the funeral? Flirting with that slutty white bitch...taking selfies.....IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE WORLD YOU FUCKING MORON!!!
How old are you? What kind of a man are you?!"
B: "What kind of a man am I!?! I'm the President of the United States bitch and you would do well to remember that. I can't believe you made us change seats....IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE WORLD! That was freaking
embarressing..."
M: "FUCK THAT!! i'm the one who should be embarressed..."
etc., etc., etc.,
Thumbs up, except for one thing. She is his beard.
The first time I heard the term "selfie", I assumed it was Newspeak for auto-eroticism.
Turns out I was right, but for the wrong reason.
You didn't tap that.
Obama was plain out simple dying to bang the bitch, or least get a blondie blow job.
Cameron was desperately asking for seconds.....
Danish PM was saying...no worries guys...I got two holes.
But never fear. Obama will make some smarmy speech, telepromoter in hand, about every nation should kneel before the Presidents dick, and he was just trying to follow tradition and stick it in her mouth...I suspect if Michelle wasn't there he would have ended up begging the Danish PM for a feel.
Are you the last person in America (or the world) to find out Obama is gay?
He wasn't interested in sex - he was interested in self.
Send in the drones! Get that photographer now!
Roberto Schmidt has announced to the world that he is a whore without a backbone.
The one member of the administration who is delighted with this boink-the-Dane thing is Joe Biden.
He has finally been hugely out-buffooned, and that ain't easy to do.
This was amusing, but the images of that warmongering fuck Blair on his lonesome are priceless.
Self-absorbed pieces of shit.
Pray for Obama.
Psalm 109:8
obama should change his name to bang-da-ho
Just to stir up the trolls a little bit something from the bible
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
And a time to yuck it up and take selfies..........
Mandela's funeral wasn't the time or place even the wookie knew better.
Now is the time to speak about it.
Photographing Pope Francis, TIME’s Person of the Year in 2013
http://lightbox.time.com/2013/12/11/photographing-pope-francis-times-per...
~//~
The Truth about the THREE WISE MEN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OlF0_aiUWM (20:45)
The REAL Revelation Of The Magi - Prt 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL3XzYoYT9U (28:16)
The REAL Revelation Of The Magi - Prt 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX5ULk4kje4 (20:15)
~//~
520 Kabbala Ancient Magic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJOanqZsOEA (41:53)
521 Jesus The Hiding Place
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNqYzYKuPWw (46:16)
75 Book of Isaiah 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUaLrOBo9Ng (41:31)
~//~
Nirvana - The Man Who Sold The World
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fregObNcHC8 (3:38)
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg (4:38)
Nirvana - All Apologies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LFVQpDKHk4 (3:48)
hmm,
goood circus. where's the bread?
ps: Don't drone me, bro.
AFP Photographer Commits Suicide
Found handcuffed, blindfolded with pistol
I move we elect a new king.
Folks, these comments are all very interesting but, this clown is a disgrace to our country. He needs to be removed from office.
like yesterday.
+1000
It's OK because he was in Africa.
We are all in Africa these days.
A photo drama played out in a sequence of pictures today at the Mandela memorial.Kristinn reported:
Michelle was not amused…
First lady appears to fail to see the funny side as her husband jokes with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt.
Then look what happened…
Enough is enough.
Michelle switches seats with her husband to separate the two.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/12/photo-drama-upset-michelle-obama-switches-seats-with-barack-at-mandela-memorial/
The only way that the tens of tons of uranium and plutonium shown by US EPA air samples could occur was if the explosion came from within the reactor vessel, and/or spent fuel pool. So clearly the explosion was a nuclear type of explosion from within. Nuclear promoters have long stated that nuclear plants can't blow up in a nuclear explosion. We know this to be a lie. In fact Chicago's own Argonne National Lab has video from back in the day when it was "cool" to perform open air tests to blow up reactors to prove the nuclear chain reaction can blow up the reactors. The special type of Nuclear Explosion is called a "prompt moderated criticality"....more here
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2013/12/fukushima-was-nuclear-explo...
Hey, we all know there was an explosion because Pravda said there was NO explosion.
I guess I'm the only person here who feels sorry for Michelle. I have vanishingly few life experiences in common with her, and I imagine I don't share many of her political or social views. But she, unlike her husband, is actually an American who cares about her country, albeit in a mistaken and destructive way. I am sure that she thought that by marrying Barry and putting up with his sexuality and his contempt (he clearly has total contempt for her; he sees her as a means to an end and I am sure always has), she could improve things for black Americans. Well, he's not doing that, and he is publicly treating her like dirt at the same time.
Over on the HuffPost, 99 percent of the commenters were saying how the memorial service was a lively, cheery time, and eveyrone was joking and having a ball, and so what Obama did was totally appropriate. Disgusting. It wasn't appropriate; it was shameful. I've known small children who had a better sense of how to act at memorial services. I guess that if it was all "culturally correct," Michelle is from some alien culture. Along with her rage at his flirting, it is actually possible that she had a sense of how revolting his behavior was vis a vis Mandela, and how revolting it was going to appear to the world.
Slight correction.
Michael LaVon Robinson-Soetoro aka Obama.
#44 Chicago High football star. Oregon State Football scholarship recipient.
Got a reassignment instead. Met Barry, and the rest is history.
Search both names in Chicago in any order. And no, that's not Pantine shampoo, it's a wig.
Just when you though it couldn't get more phuked up?
You betcha! Rev Wrong is well-known for matching up down-low brothas and other sex weirdos to give them cover to advance their careers in Shytown. I wonder if he own the hit service which despatched Donald Young right after Barryanne announced his candidacy?
how the memorial service was a lively, cheery time, and eveyrone was joking and having a ball
If Zuma and Mugabe can fix the date they can make it a series !
What, are you stupid? She's not some innocent woman who was abused by her wandering husband. That woman, by Barry's own account, singled him out and aggressively pursued him. It must have been hard closing the deal, since Larry Sinclair has revealed Barry was a well-known visitor to Chicago's bath house scene. She's been with him on the train for money and power and revolution, not for blacks. If she was so pro-black, perhaps she might have convinced Barry not to support Tony Rezko's slum business. She seems like just another phony rich dem who might sit on a board or two for a charity, but couldn't possibly stop buying expensive clothes and going on world vacations to actually help someone. Wanting to do charity work with other people's money is not being a good person. And what can you point to that would indicate she is a patriot?! Ever seen her at comment to her hubby during a ceremony, "All that for a damn flag?" She's in it for money and power and that's it.
Mirror mirror on my phone, who is is the greatest dictator clone?
Hhmmmm ? Soo many here.. but W.H.O. can it be?
Ooohh! It's me! Seeeelfeeeei!! CLICK!
Back off Putin! Your in MY shot! Everytime were photoed together, you make me look like an ass!
Uuup loooad, too, seelf portraits. Done!
SIRI...?
Yes your Majesty?
Send file #666 to David Cameron with message, See what your missing?
Your Majesty?
What SIRI!?!
He placed you on Iggy block last week, remember?
Then send it to Rham!
Sent.
By the way, this Socialist champion of white genocide shot caller died on 27 June 2013. Just nobody was paying attention to the news and missed the announcement.
N. Mandella that is. Search that fact.
Perhaps these Satanic Bastards were saving the corpse for a special sacrifice to Lucifer.
Look for Pyramid symbols or something.
****
All you need to know is that if the situation permitted the bahaviour, there would have been no flap in the phony news media.
Roberto Schmidt writes: "...if we, as the press, would have more access to dignitaries and be able to show they are human as the rest of us."
That's wishful thinking. Just because most politicans have two arms, two legs and two brain cells doesn't mean they're human. Most of them are psychopaths with a false image that is carefully constructed to deceive and fool people. Public image is everything.
"A rare day on a field trip, lads!!"
"What do you see, Professor Shrink?"
"A huge gathering of psychopaths! My God, this is impressive! Better than a UN Meeting!"
"I'll get the camera, Professor!"
"Stay low and quiet, Nigel! They can kill on a whim!"
MMMM, white meat so good to eat
Butt the Wookie is Mad
Reg can handle my meat.
And yet nobody thought of taking a photo with Mandela's corpse. LOL.
http://selfiesatfunerals.tumblr.com
'Nuff said.
When is Mrs Kinnock going to meet the US President otherwise ? Little Denmark hardly ranks and she is a self-promoter with designer handbags and extravagant tastes.