In this series, Anderson mainly uses black and with photography, and sometimes with an infrared filter. The first and third images are examples of this. When he does use color, it is typically red, white, and blue that make up most of the images. It is difficult to tell if he is using a high or low depth of field in these images because he is cropped in so closely on his subjects - so much so that they become the composition as opposed to just being part of the composition. In most cases, lighting is harsh. The way he chooses to place points of focus changes with each image. The first focuses roughly on the thirds line in the center, on the subjects mouth, and the composition is very much center weighted. The second also centers the subjects features, however her eyes are right in the vertical middle of the composition - splitting up the composition into halves. Finally, the third is weighted towards the left, with the eyes and lips roughly on thirds lines. The first and third have high contrasts.
These images are meant to be about the pomp and glamour of politics, by showing just the opposite - politicians and campaign supporters in highly unflattering lights. He presents these people in crude and nontraditional portraits that most likely none of these people would enjoy seeing themselves in. It pokes fun at something fairly serious. They capture the "goof ups" on the campaign trails and freeze the subjects at just the perfect beautiful moment where they aren't smiling perfectly for the camera, they're yawning, laughing, awkwardly in between faces, etc. Anderson uses all of the above mentioned techniques to achieve all of this. He is removing the glamor from what he we all see and placing these people on pedestals that they wish they had never been put on.
I enjoy these mainly because they do possess a statement behind the images. Normally I don't care for images such as these, but they are beautifully crude and allow me to see politicians as more than the visage on the campaign trails. It is much different than what you see from an Associated Press photographer.
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