Author:
Finnegan, Cara A. author.
ImprintUrbana : University of Illinois Press, [2021]
Descriptionxi, 280 pages, 15 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 23 cm
Note:Part I. The daguerreotype presidents -- Photographing George Washington -- Early Daguerreotypes in the U. S. and the nation's capital -- John Quincy Adams and national portraiture -- Part II. The snapshot president -- Handheld photography and the halftone revolution -- William McKinley's last photographs -- Part III. The candid camera presidents -- Visual news in the early twentieth century -- Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, and the candid camera -- Part IV. The social media president -- Changing visual media from the mid-twentieth century to the digital age -- Barack Obama and Flickr -- Conclusion: The portrait makes our president
Bibliography Note:Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-265) and index.
Note:"Lincoln's somber portraits. Lyndon Johnson's swearing in. George W. Bush's reaction to learning about the 9/11 attacks. Photography plays an indelible role in how we remember and define American presidents. Throughout history, presidents have actively participated in all aspects of photography, not only by sitting for photos but by taking and consuming them. Cara A. Finnegan ventures from a newly-discovered daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams to Barack Obama's selfies to tell the stories of how presidents have participated in the medium's transformative moments. As she shows, technological developments not only changed photography, but introduced new visual values that influence how we judge an image. At the same time, presidential photographs- as representations of leaders who symbolized the nation- sparked public debate on these values and their implications. An original journey through political history, 'Photographic Presidents' reveals the intertwined evolution of an American institution and a medium that continues to define it."-- Provided by publisher.
