Taking My Cue

(click for full size)

If Ron Paul can take a short rest on a long march... I guess The BAG can too.

If you've got a take on the composition, be my guest.  As well, I would love your thoughts, feedback or requests on The State Of The BAG. If you're feeling particularly reflective, you might also revisit recent posts featuring work by contributers Nina Berman (Wartime America) and Lori Grinker ("Canyon of Heroes" ) (Regarding Lori's shot, by the way, did anyone notice that the policewoman and most of the soldiers happened to be women?)

In the meantime, I'm going to not think about pictures for a couple days, until I pick up again on Saturday (or Sunday at the latest).  I wish you a warm and peaceful Thanksgiving.

(image: Jim Cole / AP. "Rest for the Weary."  November 7, 2007.  caption: Republican presidential hopeful, Representative Ron Paul takes a short rest from campaigning at his headquarter in Concord, New Hampshire.  time.com/pictures of the week)

Comments

[Doctor Biobrain]

I just think Paul finally had a look at all the crap his supporters have been saying on his behalf and is a bit glum about the whole thing. He doesn't even want to look at his computer anymore and wishes the camera wasn't there taking his picture. He looks like a little kid who was told to stop squirming by his mom, even though he wasn't.

I don't know if that's the case with him, but wouldn't it suck if you became famous based upon supporters who you thought were totally nuts?

[martin]

Ffwd: nov 2008. Giving thanks. HPdiddly H reporter: reports, '..as a veil is drawn across wartime actvities in the middle-east by US troops. one month after the resignation of former VP dik chaney, a previous democrat hopeful laments his choice of footwear.
the previous previous whyte house spokesperson was unavailable for comment.
Aides added that he was in a meeting with his publisher

[MonsieurGonzo]

Cervantes' : Don Quixote ?

“Alonso Quixano, a fiftyish retired country gentleman, lives in an unnamed section of La Mancha with his niece and a housekeeper. He has become obsessed with books of chivalry, and believes their every word to be true, despite the fact that many of the events in them are (clearly) impossible. Quixano eventually loses his mind from little sleep and food and because of so much reading. He decides to go out as a knight-errant in search of adventure. He dons an old suit of armor, improvises a makeshift helmet, renames himself "Don Quixote de la Mancha"...

“...The novel ends with Don Quixote's complete disillusionment, with his melancholy return to sanity and renunciation of chivalry, and finally, his [existential insignificance = ] death.”

[jtfromBC]

So if you pass me by
Three hearts will break in two
Cause me, myself and i
Are all in love with you

-Billie Holiday

[Blake Incarnate]

Monsieur Gonzo, that was a GREAT analogy,... Don Quixote to Ron Paul. I am puzzled at the link to the bearded man in front of the wall??? What does that mean I wonder :)

Ron Paul, Nostradamus, BagNewsNotes, ... it doesn't take Einstein's imagination to predict that a change is coming to America. The difficult part is to know what happens next? We have been trying to balance an elephant on the head of a pin. The miracle is that we have stayed up as long as we have.

[Wayne Dickson]

What strikes me first is how extraordinarily closed his body language is. Re the composition, its balance is interestingly asymmetrical. Ron Paul sign and light stand on one end of the teeter-totter, flag and candidate on the other end. The repetition of the red, white, and blue helps with the unity. The image shows how breaking the rules can be very effective. For instance, novice photographers are told to have the subject looking into the composition. This image shows Paul looking out of it. But it works because we can't help wondering whether it's the future he's looking at...and whether that might explain his closed posture.

[dono]

To me, he looks like the current state of our Constitution - vulnerable, frail, overwhelmed and steadfastly waiting for support that may well never come...

[Jody]

Regardless of what the MSM is trying to project here, if you've seen Ron Paul in action, you're looking at one of the most astute minds on the landscape in this day and age.

Revere Bushco, ignore Ron Paul.. think for a moment how Orwellian the real picture looks.

[tekel]

I think he looks like he needs a hug.

[Lindata]

He looks not quite big enough to fill his shoes.

[Cactus]

Someone stuck a pin in him and he imploded. How symbolic.

The room is full of negative space. Sadly, the only bits of color are the flag and his poster, which is just about all he has to offer the country.

Something tells me this is where the rubber of our inattention to the education of our children meets the road on the way to the end of the empire.

The people who adore and support him because he says to get out of Iraq still haven't realized that he wants government out of everything except the military.

Whenever I hear someone speak kindly of Ron Paul, I point out that he believes in total freedom. If there is a pot hole in the street in front of your house, you are totally free to go out and fix it but don't ask the government for any help. Paul looks like he just realized the vacuousness of his programs.

[Raenelle]

He seems like an ascetic to me. Stripped down, bare, no pretense, no pomp, ritual, adoring crowds--none of the ceremony to prop him up. No glamour poses. No poses, period. Just him and the American flag. Simple, austere, (willing to stand) alone.

[donna]

A fun one for baggers in the NYT today:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/11/18/opinion/20071118_OPART_index.html

or tiny url http://tinyurl.com/2w3oau

[neal]

Tired old man, knowing how far it is to the finish line, wishing he had started sooner. The party's in the other room.

[PTate in MN]

He looks alone and vulnerable, no hoopla. It almost looks as though he is wringing hands, a perfectly understandable gesture if one contemplates what Bushco has done to America.

He may have some nutty ideas, but at least he isn't packaging himself for media consumption! I'm struck by his suit. It's beautifully cut and gives him authority. He could be a college professor apart from that expensive suit...a man of ideas.

[Jacques]

Looking at this photo, I feel sorry for him. I think he needs a hug. He's a lunatic who just needs some lovin'

[Thomas JEfferson]

All these comments are so off, They just caught him at a bad camera angle, Haven't you ever had A BAD picture? get real! if you try hard enough you can capture anything look at the tabloids.
The truth is Ron Paul has a huge following and you people just haven't tasted it yet.

LET THE REVOLUTION CONTINUE!!!!!!!!

RON PAUL
RON PAUL
RON PAUL