Alternate Theory of Priebus / Scaramucci Oval Office Death Stare Photo
With both Priebus and Scaramucci now ejected from the West Wing, it’s hard to believe photographer T. J. Kirkpatrick made this photograph seven days ago. A lifetime!
The photo went viral because it appears that Priebus/Scaramucci are staring at each other, steaming with rage — in a metaphor of West Wing struggle, made real.
I don’t think that’s what Kirkpatrick’s photo shows. Let’s look:
This is the largest version of the photo I could find (2405x1603) and it was a picture most of the world saw on screens smaller than their palms. Which is probably where you’re reading this now. [Sigh]
When compressed into the relative size of a phone’s screen, it most definitely looks like Priebus/Scaramucci are locked into some kind of I SEE YOU psychodrama.
And Kirkpatrick’s statement says as much:
“It seemed important to show the two of them in the Oval Office, and at the moment I shot the series of photos of them they happened to look toward each other,” he said.
Kirkpatrick also said he was rushed, the assignment was high-profile, and he didn’t sense any tension in the room.
As Mr. Scaramucci and others stood up, signaling it was time to leave, the new communications director quipped: “Gary [Cohn] and I are bouncers from Long Island.”
This is the tip (or tell) that backs-up my theory:
Priebus & Scaramucci aren’t looking at each other.
Priebus is most definitely looking at Scaramucci, but the view of them is foreshortened, photographically compressed. Scaramucci is actually standing a few feet behind Priebus, and is looking past him, toward the door where the President’s secretary sits, like a bouncer!
It’s the end of a meeting, and with a man like DJT at Resolute, it’s more important than ever to be the last to whisper in his ear. Scaramucci knows this, and Priebus knows he knows this, hence the disdain.
Scaramucci’s eyeing the door to see who’s leaving, who’s possibly coming in, and how long he can stay in the Oval with his thumbs in his belt. (Not long, bro.)
Even Kirkpatrick’s quote hedges a bit, saying they were looking “toward” each other, not at each other. No one’s at fault here, of course — Kirkpatrick made an amazing photograph, but the discussion about the picture might have been more about what we wished was in the photo, rather than what was actually there.
When I was writing “Skip This Version / Do Not Install Update” I looked at a lot of maps, floor-plans and photos of the Oval Office. This is one of the few photos I’ve seen from the ceiling, back in the Bush administration.
In Kirkpatrick’s photo, Scaramucci is standing on the edge of the Oval rug (above, similarly sized) just in front of the last window to the West Colonnade and the Rose Garden. It puts him at a different distance from the camera than Priebus.
Mooch is right about where the Xmas-tree apron is here:
From Kirkpatrick’s perspective, looking through a viewfinder, it might have been difficult to tell if Mooch was looking at (or past) Priebus.
The foreshortening is similar to what happens in stage finishes at the Tour de France that look close, but aren’t. Here’s Mark Cavendish, winning Stage 20 of the 2012 Tour de France. Looks super close!
And here’s an aerial GIF of Cavendish’s lead, from about 50 meters before the finish line. Wasn’t even close. Way to go, Cav!
I know it’s a heckuva leap to use a Tour de France sprint finish to explain why Mooch and Priebus seem (but aren’t) locked in an Oval Office death stare; it’s sports photography that taught me how pictures aren’t always as they appear.
The difference is subtle, about 20 degrees between the two arrows of where we wish Mooch was looking (at Priebus) and where he was actually looking (at the door).
Mooch could even have been swiveling his attention between Priebus and the door (the name of your new band) across Kirkpatrick’s frames.
Ok?
OK!
— MDM 20170801
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