For Shame

 

If it’s not the most complicated photo, that’s part of the point.

The most significant image of the week involved Obama — sitting with the newly confirmed treasury secretary — calling the media into the Oval Office to intentionally and pointedly shame Wall Street (using that exact word). Obama castigated the banking industry for irresponsibility in dishing out huge bonuses when the economy — in part, through its practices — is in the tank.

This is the shot the NYT ran, although it doesn’t coincide exactly with the shame comment (at around the 2:35 mark). Watching the video, I could imagine a sharper edge and smoother delivery from Obama if the administration wasn’t so “fresh out of the box” and “44” felt a little more possessive of the office. But, that’s another thing the photos are for.

(image: Jim Young/Reuters. White House. January 29, 2009 via nyt.com)