Cnn
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With her eyes fixed straight forward, First Lady Melania Trump bends forward on an impossible reflective surface – is it a table, a mirror, a fresh water surface? – while its manicure peaks perfectly maintain its balance. The type of energy attitude you will expect from a particularly secure contestant in “The Apprentice”. On the contrary, it is the 47th portrait of the first lady.
Released from the White House on Monday, the photo – captured by Belgian photographer Régine Mahaux – has already sparked internet discussions. The second official portrait of the First Lady Trump, and the contrast between the two images is important. In 2017, the rage about the first photograph of Mrs. Trump focused largely on her decision to wear Dolce & Gabbana-a sartorial choice that shocked fashion observers throughout the SH.BA as a lost opportunity to display American made by America. Now, Trump is eagerly dressed with another Tungeo jacket with a bay from the Italian brand. But this time, there are other artistic choices to unfold.
Eight years ago, we met Trump in the living technicolor: her bronze complexion and the pierced blue eyes perfectly fitted inside her balayage caramel. Today, viewers are introduced to Trump on a harsh gray scale. Where there was once a wise facial expression in the style of Mona Lisa-Bushes enough to suggest a smile or a grimace, depending on the perspective-there is no room for interpretation. With the closed mouth, Trump is strong and determined. This time, the tables are returned (literally). On the contrary, it seems that the first lady is analyzing you.
“I love self-reflection-representing that Melania Trump is a woman of a practical president-in the business in question,” wrote LA Times and Washington Times Scott Holraran journalist on X. But for some, scary position is alone He – poses. On social media, the image is compared to the promotional shooting of Claire Underwood, the first imaginary lady of the Netflix series “House of Cards” and Kim Kardashian in a fashion shoot for GQ magazine.
But however thick, portrait is a continuation of the soft energy messages communicated by Trump in inauguration. Her Boater Eric Javitz-style hat, often positioned to protect her eyes from cameras, was a physical border-keeping all, including her husband who bowed to a kiss, at a distance. Now, even in the image taken from Mahaux, Trump is farther from the camera with an ocean (or mirrored table) that separates the viewer and the subject.
President Donald Trump similarly waves for his official head at first a person with deliberately gets that position, what is happening? “Said John Bolton, former Trump National Security Adviser, in an interview with Kaitlan Collins of CNN.
Both Trumps have been first -hand witnesses the power of a wonderful image in changing public opinion. In July 2024, President Trump’s dramatic photos survive a murder attempt during a Republican rally in Pennsylvania flooded the Internet. Bloodsoaxed with a fist in the air, surrounded by secret service agents, dynamic photographs made Trump a remote heroic. Even his critics were forced to agree. “Anyone who tried to kill him failed,” wrote Benjamin Wallace-Weller in New Yorker. “It is now the indelible image of our era of political crisis and conflict.”
Not every photo can be checked-as Pennsylvania-but after a few years of his image being Meme-D in Oblivion, the president is taking the optics more seriously. Now it seems that the First Lady has taken a leaf from her husband’s book. Both are seeking to recover public perception, a photograph at the same time.