"Nonstop imagery is our surround, but when it comes to remembering, the photograph has the deeper bite....
In an era of information overload, the photograph..is like a quotation, or a maxim or proverb."
(Susan Sontag: Regarding the Pain of Others 2003)

07 April, 2008

Another one to ponder

This classic of the genre was used in today's Telegraph to illustrate the extraordinary poll finding that Margaret Thatcher at her peak would sweep to power in a general election held today. An incidental finding also spells rather bad news for Dave: almost two thirds of Tory voters said they would prefer Lady Thatcher to the current party leader. The image itself shows the "Iron Lady" in the tower of a British Challenger tank in the then West Germany. More than 20 years on from what was clearly a piece of highly orchestrated PR (don't mention the Cold War) the jury is still out as to whether this "Grace Kelly awry" shot actually boosted Mrs Thatcher's re-election chances or whether it ranks with William Hague's baseball cap and Neil Kinnock's beach stroll as one of the worst PR gaffes since the spin doctors first muscled their way into Westminster.