In the spring of 1985, I walked into my father’s office on the seventh floor of National Geographic magazine and found myself face to face with what would arguably become the most famous photograph in the history of the magazine. “Afghan Girl” is a portrait of Sharbat Gula, an Afghan refugee in Pakistan during the Soviet–Afghan War. The photograph was taken by photojournalist Steve McCurry near the Pakistani city of Peshawar.
“Afghan Girl” would appear in the upcoming June 1985 issue of National Geographic. My father had it pinned to a large board he used in his office to track upcoming stories. I remember walking into Dad’s office and then stopping, stunned, when I saw the amazing photograph. “Yeah, I know,” my dad said. He didn’t need to elaborate. It was a spectacular shot.
I grew up surrounded by National Geographic writers and photographers, so I know when a photographer has done a hit job on someone. And Christopher Anderson of Vanity Fair has done a hit job on the Trump White House with his photographs that accompany a new article about White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. In one photograph, Wiles looks startled. In another, Secretary of State Marco Rubio leans forward, staring at a lamp. Vice President J.D. Vance is shot in an extreme close-up, as is Karoline Leavitt’s. Leavitt, a very attractive woman, is made to look particularly gruesome. “People seem to be shocked that I didn’t use Photoshop to retouch out blemishes and her injection marks,” Anderson told the Washington Post. I find it shocking that someone would expect me to retouch out those things.” Anderson claims that his style is meant to “cut through” the artifice of most political portraits.
Nonsense. Christopher Anderson did not shoot Leavitt that way to reveal the human being behind her public persona. He did it to make her look like a monster. Secretary Rubio’s picture is meant to make him look foolish. Same with Susie Wiles. It’s another in a long list of artistic callings that have been corrupted by left-wing politics. Novels, TV shows, movies, poetry, photography – everything must now serve The State and make those who resist look demonic.
The great photographers I grew up with were inspired to make their subjects look human and dignified, even in moments of conflict.
One question conservatives are rightly asking is: Why did Susie Wiles and the rest of the Trump staff do it? Who in their right mind talks to Vanity Fair? No matter how many times the media trashes us, some conservatives think that, yes, this time they will be able to kick the football.
Earlier this year, I agreed to meet with a journalist from a glossy magazine who was interested in doing a profile of me. The only reason I trusted this person is that I’ve known her for thirty years, although who knows? Maybe even someone who effectively evaded the American Stasi can make a mistake. We’ll see. I’m betting that a friendship of three decades is not worth losing over a hit piece.
The magazine doing the profile recently contacted me about taking some pictures for the profile. I don’t need any filter to soften my pale Irish fish belly, bald head, and 61-year-old feet. I just won’t let them turn me into a monster.
This year, I’m retiring from journalism. It’s been a good run. I like to think that my father taught me how to do the job with honesty and integrity, and in his memory, I’d at least look human in the last story I’m involved in, which ironically involves me as a subject and not the writer. Maybe I could just get my own photographer – give someone honest a platform.
So are there good conservative photographers out there? I’d like to end my career by giving an honest young artist a chance.
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