Getty’s Somodevilla: Drones in the Air on Capitol Hill

I don’t know how many times we’ve showcased the work of White House wire photographers. Day after day, they face the same mundane rooms, ritualistic scenes and cast of characters while tasked to create as much interest and engagement as they can. Nobody is more canny and creative in attacking this challenge than Getty Images’ Chip Somodevilla. Yesterday he outdid himself in framing the Attorney General’s press conference. Eric Holder convened the presser to talk about the government lawsuit against rating agency Standard & Poor’s. Instead, he wound up being asked about drones and the official memos behind the Obama Administration’s policy on using such weaponry to kill people (including American citizens) without due process of any kind.

What goes around comes around? Besides catching a reflection to imagine a face being targeted, Chip captures the stage light as if it were the body of an incoming Predator. (Of course, it’s flying right past Justice.)

(photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. caption: Attorney General Eric Holder leads a news conference with Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart Delery and attorneys general from eight states and the District of Columbia at the Department of Justice February 5, 2013 in Washington, DC. Holder announced that the United States is bringing a civil lawsuit against the ratings agency Standards & Poor’s and its parent company, McGraw-Hill Companies, over its pre-fiscal crisis bond ratings.)