Google ‘Obama Looking Hopeful’

Everyone’s a-writin’ about Obama again, what with the inauguration coming up next week. (I voted “No” on that Facebook poll, by the way.) From Inquirer photographer Tom Gralish comes the story of the photo behind the Obama “HOPE” poster, made by Shepard Fairey. Turns out it’s a Reuters photo by Jim Young, shot in 2007, of Obama during the confirmation hearings for Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte.

Fun story, plus it’s so appropriate that the enduring image of the 2008 campaign is, in essence, a stolen Reuters photo found with a Google Image Search and then flipped horizontally. I can only hope Fairey was using a bootleg copy of Photoshop as well.

The Obama Poster Photographer ID’d [Scene on the Road]
Image via Mike Webkist used under a Creative Commons license

Obama Poster Scares Oldheads

By now you have most definitely seen the image in the photo at right, which the Daily news Clout column mentioned today. Apparently, it makes Barack Obama look like a totalitarian leader to people over the age of 35 or so, since they are not familiar Shepard Fairey’s Obey posters, what this is obviously a total homage to.

And, hey, what do you know! The poster is designed by Shepard Fairey, the “Andre the Giant has a posse” artist. (There are obviously other artsy Obama posters that kinda look like this as well.) Even though this poster is pretty much the least annoying thing about supporters of Barack Obama, people are upset and angry about it. They find it creepy, even though it’s about 100 times less creepy that Obama just making shit up in his ads and a million billion trillion times less creepy than anything John McCain or Hillary Clinton will ever do.

Of course, most people don’t make rational decisions, so I will not be surprised if this poster is directly responsible for President John McCain.

Clout: Obama mania: Is this 2008 … or 1984? [Daily News]
Semi-related: Barack Obama as re-imagined by Time’s Joe Klein [Attytood]