Guy Who Took Photo of Obama Selfie Tells Internet to Get a Life

[muriel_volestrangler]

Roberto Schmidt, a German-Colombian photojournalist based in India, saw a moment worth capturing at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in Soweto, South Africa on Tuesday, and capture it he did: the ‘selfie’ taken by President Barack Obama along with two other world leaders and next to a pissed-off seeming Michelle Obama, immediately went viral. Mediaite sure covered it, as did most internet publications, and by early afternoon it was gristle for cable news commentators on both the left and the right—much to Schmidt’s dismay.

“It’s a sign of our times that somehow this image seemed to get more attention than the event itself,” Schmidt wrote on Agence France-Presse’s “Correspondent” blog Wednesday morning.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/guy-who-took-photo-of-obama-selfie-tells-internet-to-get-a-life/

Anyway, suddenly this woman pulled out her mobile phone and took a photo of herself smiling with Cameron and the US president. I captured the scene reflexively. All around me in the stadium, South Africans were dancing, singing and laughing to honour their departed leader. It was more like a carnival atmosphere, not at all morbid. The ceremony had already gone on for two hours and would last another two. The atmosphere was totally relaxed – I didn’t see anything shocking in my viewfinder, president of the US or not. We are in Africa.

I later read on social media that Michelle Obama seemed to be rather peeved on seeing the Danish prime minister take the picture. But photos can lie. In reality, just a few seconds earlier the first lady was herself joking with those around her, Cameron and Schmidt included. Her stern look was captured by chance.

I took these photos totally spontaneously, without thinking about what impact they might have. At the time, I thought the world leaders were simply acting like human beings, like me and you. I doubt anyone could have remained totally stony faced for the duration of the ceremony, while tens of thousands of people were celebrating in the stadium. For me, the behaviour of these leaders in snapping a selfie seems perfectly natural. I see nothing to complain about, and probably would have done the same in their place. The AFP team worked hard to display the reaction that South African people had for the passing of someone they consider as a father. We moved about 500 pictures, trying to portray their true feelings, and this seemingly trivial image seems to have eclipsed much of this collective work.

http://blogs.afp.com/correspondent/?post/Selfie