Your BAG/World Press Monday: Putin

World Press '08 - Portraits: 1st prize singles

Platon, UK, for Time magazine.

President Putin of Russia

platonphoto.com

Comments

[Alan B]

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

The photo is remarkably similar to one of Putin in uniform, back in his KGB days, available here: http://www.ocnus.net/cgi-bin/exec/view.cgi?archive=106&num=27082 , though the current portrait contains even less trace of humanity. (The photo to which I link is posted as part of a story relating that 78% of the Russian political elite have come from the KGB - FSB.)

Bush may look into those eyes and see the soul of an honest man; I look in those eyes and see a soulless man.

Another partner in the fight against (some forms of) terrorism.

[black dog barking]

Mr Putin doesn't have any problem getting in my face. And he doesn't look too happy to see me either. Did I do something wrong? Hey I was only kidding. That bear joke, it wasn't a Russian bear, it was a rushing bear. See? Different words completely. I can see how you might get confused. No, I don't have a problem with your English. It's my English that's the problem.

(Oh please wake up. This is a dream. Please please wake up.)

[itwasntme]

This blank-face thing, I've got it down perfectly now. Boy, does it ever work. Nobody knows I'm having a bit of a private chuckle in here, which is good. Bush "looked into my soul" yeah, right. What an idiot. Nobody knows my soul, and that's just the way I want it.

The new Russian Man.

[Sage]

I see a strong resemblance to General George Patton's English Bull Terrier, Willie (short for William the Conqueror). I suspect the name fits here too.

[jtfromBC]

The look of a very formidable adversary indeed.

The WSJ, the FT and corporate media relentlessly declare that this man has inherent evil tendencies and is constantly thwarting fundamental freedoms for the Russian people.
In keeping with a classic theme "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." lets look through another pair of eyes, not into the soul but inside the cranium of Putin Agonistes: by Mike Whitney

"...the American people have no idea of the reckless policy that is being carried out in their name. The gravity of the proposed Missile Defense system has been virtually ignored by the media and Russia's protests have been dismissed as trivial. But hostilities are steadily growing, military forces and weaponry are being put into place, and the stage is set for a major conflagration. This is every bit as serious as the Cuban Missile Crisis, only this time Russia cannot afford to stand down. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18926.htm

On a lighter note the Boy from Texas versus the Lad from Leningrad in a verbal shootout. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSOOCos6Es4&feature=related

[MonsieurGonzo]

ref : “I look in those eyes and see a soulless man.”

too cyan to be true. The image uses an unsubtle manipulation of colour balance to engineer our consent such that we believe “We know who this man really is!” e.g., a ghost, sans soul : “that self-aware essence unique to a particular living being,” because we have been led to believe that we can see what he is not; ie., a man not magenta = warm, "soulful".

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence: Correcting the colour imbalance = bias apparent (from the photographer, or the publisher = mass re-producer?) or, flipping my display to B&W ~ i cannot help but admire the fearless abandon, i daresay courage ~ with which Mr. Putin presents himself; and by his doing so, their nation does bare itself to us.

So, so you think you can tell: Heaven from Hell,
Blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field - from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you to trade: your heroes for ghosts ?

=> Happy Presidents Day

[DennisQ]

You'd never know from the photograph - or these comments - that Putin is extraordinarily popular in Russia. The people love him!

American right wingers, who'd like us to go back to the Cold War, think that Putin's popularity is a myth. They claim that the Russian people fear him. Political moderates say that Putin is popular only because the West despises him. The truth is more likely to be that Putin is doing a good job, and the Russians appreciate it. If Bush were doing a good job, he'd be popular too.

[Astrogall]

For what it's worth, I had dinner last night with a friend who has just returned from guiding on an Antarctic cruise ship. He said the Russian crew of the vessel had to attend special 'smile' sessions to learn appropriate behaviour when dealing with the mainly American and European passengers. He said the lack of facial expression and emotion even extended to the galley where he and his colleagues were admonished when they exhibited convivial behaviour around the meal table.

We speculated that maybe maintaining a neutral expression and masking your feelings was a learnt defence mechanism in a totalitarian environment where the individual did his best not to draw attention?

[NatureGirl]

I see someone who doesn't look like a real live human being. He looks like a simulacrum, an imitation human, a'la the soulless terminator in the movies. Not a person, but the idea of a person, a very intense and formidable foe, not someone I'd want to be stuck in an elevator with.

[jtfromBC]

DennisQ "For what it's worth "
may I suggest you check 'Russian Culture Tips' and then perhaps reevaluated your "We speculated that maybe maintaining a neutral expression and masking your feelings was a learnt defence mechanism in a totalitarian environment." ? ? ?

# 2 One of the mistakes that Westerners make is assuming that everybody loves a nice, sunny smile. This is not actually the case in Russia. Russians do smile (though you might not think so riding the Moscow Metro) but they do so only when they have a reason. (And "just being alive" isn't considered a good reason). They find constant smiling false and a bit "Glupiy" (silly).
For novice US travellers there are 9 additional hints some I dare say might even be helpful should you visit Canada.

http://russia-travel.suite101.com/article.cfm/russian_culture_tips

happy trails, jt

[Astrogall]

Thanks jt
I knew there would be a better reason than the one we could think of.
Astrogall (not DennisQ)

[lytom]

There has to be an enemy for the empire to keep the folks on their toes when it comes to identifying the danger to them.
Terrorists are fine, but it is much better for them to have a face and a name.
Russia is not going along with the empire's "freedom spreading in the world," and in addition, still has quite a nuclear arsenal to compete with. Folks have not forgotten the recent past of the Red Threat so why not use it since there are serious plans to make Russia once and for all isolated and weak. Would we all feel safe if in the midst of Europe there would be US missiles aimed at Russia from close up from the heart of Europe?
Is that why Putin has a serious face?
The comments here are colored by the impressions not seen in the picture but impressions of the media...

[jtfromBC]

lytom, of course its the Red Threat, have you noticed when Lou Dobbs is not ranting about aliens or broken borders he's become more bellicose about China and re-working that old Yellow Peril theme as well.

Of course he is not alone

"On the right, after almost ten months of biting their collective tongues on the Yellow Peril, the fabled "Blue Team," which favors treating China as Washington's next potential peer rival, is getting restive. Despite President George W. Bush's efforts to embrace Taiwan ever tighter, influential right-wingers close to key policymakers in the Pentagon and Vice President Dick Cheney are complaining that the administration has become too complacent about what they see as a growing threat from China. http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2002/0207china.html

[Jacques]

One word: psychopath

[MonsieurGonzo]

ref : “'smile' sessions to learn appropriate behaviour when dealing with the mainly American and European passengers...”

{grin} quite true! Parisians in particular regard the fixed smile as ‘the face of a fool’, fwiw; MadameGonzo had a heluva time adjusting to this. Along with certain other body language/ postures and mannerisms, that 'smile' often betrays "American tourist".

if you explore the link BAGman provided to Platon's gallery, it quickly becomes apparent that the photographer enjoys using extreme wide-angle lenses, below-angle views, etc., whatever effects he feels necessary ~ to suggest character attributes of his subjects ~ that may or may not be true. However unreal, his effects do quite often succeed in projecting or reinforcing American stereotypes that "we think we know" about his subjects' character.

Wiki => smile : “the Duchenne smile is only produced as an involuntary response to genuine emotion, and is therefore what one could call the "genuine" smile. . .”

e.g. => Putin, smiling at a fool

“... The "Pan American smile", on the other hand, is the voluntary smile... to show politeness; Considered "insincere", this type of smile has also been called the "Professional Smile".”

[Friendly Joe Stalin]

Rice told Dubya to look into Volodya's soul.

But she is as soul-less as they both are.

Mis-programmed robots have a lot in common.

[black dog barking]

M Gonzo, what is "the face of a fool" en français? Mr Google wasn't helpful. I love the image and I'd like to be able to use the expression but, sadly, the English words might be a distraction.

[MonsieurGonzo]

Madame says: voici le visage d'un imbécile.

fwiw, i would have said, "visage idiot". is it more fun in Italian? "la faccia di uno sciocco".

The Fool: “A dog [!] appears on most versions of the TAROT card. Some versions of the dog depict him biting at The Fool. The dog symbolizes the natural world, one path to knowledge and a valuable ally; he can be seen as providing The Fool with a "reality check," a link to the everyday world.”

[jtfromBC]

Jacques, 'One word: psychopath'
please share diagnostic criteria or behavioral traits you've identified in Putin if you have time.
Or if you think this guy needs help do you have any suggestions ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch v=fQnv2H4uv08

[black dog barking]

Merçi M Gonzo. I was kinda hoping some idiom— masque de la faible or somesuch. Idiot and imbécile are unfortunately cognates, might provoke an unsocial response. Yeah, the Italian is more fun.

[Cactus]

I see so little change in the old Putin and the 'new' Putin as to be insignificant. Even age has been kind to him, as if he had made some bargain with Darth. Yet, although the older image (referenced by AlanB) is not color and rather blurry, it seems a certain quality of death has crept into his eyes in the photo above. As if he is a man who values no life, not even his own. Converting this photo to grey scale does not remove that absence from his eyes. That image is so washed of color that it is almost in grey scale as it is.

And yet when I look at The W, I cannot but think that in this brave new world, a man can smile and smile and yet be a villian.

Bon mot to black dog (if I may use your first name), one of my French teachers said that 2/3 of the words in French and English are the same, or almost so. The pronunciation, however, is the romance.

[MadameGonzo]

chien noir aboyant: native MonsieurRene offers up some French argot (here in plain ASCII), fwiw.

gueule d'imbecile. . . “ mouth of [an] imbecile ”

sourire betement. . . “ to smile stupidly ”

prendre un "air d'idiot". . . “ to take [on] an "[the] air of [an] idiot" ”

prendre son air. . . “ to take [on] its/his air ”

[black dog barking]

Merçi beaucoups Mme Gonzo. A million billion years ago when I was taking French in high school we were told that "Ta gueule" was the worst thing we could say en français.

Guhl-dam-bay-seal flows from the tongue. If said with a smile I'm thinking the frozen-smile recipient might take it as a compliment. Which it is, in a way.