Romney/Ryan: Overdone BFF Shtick Artfully Framed

Crowley is such a wonderful photographer. I wonder how he’d describe this. Perhaps as two exceptionally upright, upstanding, stand up guys having a straight up moment.

Getty’s Justin Sullivan also filed a clever set. I find all these photos painfully self-conscious, determined to demonstrate extraordinary chemistry, a deep bond, that much pleasure in the other. Having gotten used to a President who is that natural in front of the cameras, perhaps it’s just that odd now to encounter the kind of posing demonstrated day-in and day-out during the Bush tenure.

Depending on the person, though, expecting someone to “just be himself” can sometimes be asking for the moon.

…By the way, if you give photographers the angle while trying too hard to communicate a deep male connection (the way Romney has been posing like Mr. Empathy since the debate in Denver), you’re just begging for some homo-erotic interpretations.

(photo 1: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times caption: Mitt Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul D. Ryan, conferred in Denver before leaving on separate campaign planes.photos 2 – 4: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.)