On pictures, online controversy, and common sense

At least two things stood out online over the past few days: an unflattering portrait of our President, and a pre-nuptial shoot held at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Both involve pictures, controversy fanned by the easy sharing facilitated by the Internet, and a lack of common sense.

A snapshot of the Presidential Office

Last July 4, journalist Raissa Robles wrote about an “awful but genuine” photo of President Noynoy and how it became popular on the Web. Our chief executive was captured seated behind a relatively empty desk, in a poorly lit office decorated with what some have called “tacky” wallpaper.

Directly to Noynoy’s right was an ashtray with a lit cigarette, emitting smoke into an airconditioned room. The photo’s subject was not in his most flattering pose, with his cocked to one side and a weird expression on his face.

As the photo made the Facebook rounds, critics of the President used it as proof of Noynoy’s laziness and disregard for the law. People implied that the desk, with a few stacks of papers on one side, was indicative of Mr. Aquino’s “do-nothing” presidency.

Others wondered why the President was not following the recent MMDA anti-smoking ordinance, which, among other things, prohibited smoking inside publicly owned areas.

Robles used official photographs of American President Obama — seated in the Oval Office, behind an also clean desk — as part of her argument that the infamous picture does not prove any sort of laziness. She also wrote that, according to Presidential staffer Manolo Quezon, the photo was taken last October (before the MMDA smoking ban was implemented).

Nevertheless, it was clear that the snapshot was the perfect ammunition for Noynoy Aquino’s critics. A friend of Robles was left wondering on Facebook “This is such a lousy photo. Is it just my imagination or does this President really have no decent photographs?? How/Why did they allow this photo to be released?”

‘Disgraceful pre-nuptial photos’

Here’s the other incident: the other day a pre-nuptial shoot of “Ruskin and Priscilla” at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani also elicited outrage, as people shared it through their respective Facebook accounts. A Facebook page was even created to condemn the couple for disrespecting soldiers who died in World War II, with at least one commenter calling Ruskin a “Tojo [slang for Japanese soldier] b--tard”.

As GMA News reported: “There appears nothing wrong with the couple's choice of a unique venue — it does, after all, offer scenic views and comely perspectives of white crosses sprawled against Bermuda grass — but they took the shoot a notch up with unusual poses.”

And it’s easy to call the poses disgraceful. One shot was a role reversal with Ruskin in a black dress and his then-fiance in a Barong Tagalog. The cross-dressing groom sat a dead soldier’s cross-shaped headstone — one of many marking the resting places of those who died fighting for our country.

In another photo, Ruskin hugs the photo like a child in love with a new toy. The whimsical nature of the pre-nuptial shoot — complete with jump shots, artsy blurs, and reflections — was hardly appropriate for the solemnity of the area, not to mention incompatible with the concept of respect for the dead.

There is nothing more uncommon than common sense

Both incidents would’ve been avoided with a little thought, from the President’s staff in the first case and Ruskin and Priscilla (now married as of this writing) in the second.

Regarding The Presidential Snapshot, those charged with handling official pictures of Noynoy should’ve been more careful. The infamous photo was likely never meant for public consumption, so why was shared with the people?

I recently interviewed a model, who insisted on replacing my original photos of her (the flash of my phone washed out her face) with professionally done shots that were much more flattering. She was protecting her image, a key part of how she makes her living.

The same is true for President Noynoy, which means minor screwups like this one can gravely affect his ability to do a good job. With an entire staff under him, at least one person should’ve made sure that such a bad photo of their boss was deleted immediately — not used as an official photo from Malacañang Palace!

(Just to be clear: I am not condemning Manolo Quezon, who I personlly know and admire as an online veteran. If he had more control, we can be sure that I wouldn’t be writing about this photo now)

As for Ruskin and Priscilla, what were they thinking? Maybe they wanted to come off as avant-garde, but most Filipinos are raised in deference of the dearly departed. Almost everyone I know observes All Souls’ Day in a cemetary, after all.

The wedding photography studio behind the shoot, East Digital Studio, claimed that they warned the couple over holding a pre-nuptial in the Libingan ng Mga Bayani. Maybe that should have been warning enough for them.