Your Turn: Snapshot From Oslo

My first pass is that the “hey, grab a camera” quality of the image, with the Nobel Chair holding a bent print-out of Obama “catching too much glare,” plays to those who would take the decision too skeptically or take the Nobel committee to task. But maybe I’m just being defensive in light of a bold, activist move and major investment in Obama’s potential. (…And then, maybe the image is-what-it-is for being impromptu.)

It’s also worth taking a look back, by the way, at the scale of this. (It’s pretty rare that The BAG runs a photo that large.) Also, there are these kinds of reminders (out of years and volumes of images) how disdainful Dubya was of international diplomacy and how much he cheapened the exercise.

I’m interested in your take on the photo, in its parts (and what it might say about the “culture” of the Nobel) and the whole.

(image: Jon-Michael Josefsen, Scanpix via A.P. caption: Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Thorbjoern Jagland, holds a picture of US President Barack Obama, in Oslo, Norway, Friday, Oct. 9, 2009, after the announcement of Obama as winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. The citation for the award, in part says, The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons. )