Macron’s official photo is revealing
Elysée portrait is full of symbolism and president organised it all the way he wanted
President Macron has revealed his official presidential photograph, tweeting it earlier this afternoon to his 1.5million followers.
Showing him in dark suit, blue tie and hands on his desk, he is in front of an open window at the Elysée flanked by the French tricolore and European flags. It is a contrast to his predecessor, François Hollande, whose photo was taken in the garden.
Taken by his official photographer Soazig de la Moissonière, it reveals small details of his personality – and especially so in a video released soon afterwards by his press adviser Sibeth Ndiaye.
In the video Mr Macron is shown laying out his two phones on the desk, flicking through a book to open it at a special page and then turning to Ms de La Moissonière for the session to start.
#AvecLePrésident pour son portrait officiel. @soazigdlm pic.twitter.com/TSFXhEWLEy
— Sibeth Ndiaye (@SibNdiaye) June 29, 2017
Elsewhere in the photo a statuette of a symbolic cockerel can be seen along with along with a clock and two other books.
The open book is the memoirs of the first president of the Fifth Republic, Charles de Gaulle, while the others are Nourritures de Terrestres by André Gide and Le Rouge et le Noir by Stendhal.
The clock may have some significance as Mr Macron told journalists during the election campaign that he would be the “maître des horloges” if elected saying that he would work to his beliefs and his timings and not those others tried to impose.
On his jacket collar there is the insignia of grand master of the Légion d’Honneur, which he became on his election. Le Parisien pointed out that he was following the tradition of Valéry Giscard-d'Estaing, François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, who had done the same.
President de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou, on the other hand, wore the grand master’s chain round their neck.
Soazig de la Moissonière also took his official campaign photo and was the official photographer for Modem leader’s François Bayrou’s presidential campaign in 2012.
Once the photo was revealed it was immediately set upon by web users who reproduced it in many different forms - as The Last Supper, with Zinedine Zidane's face superimposed, with his political aims, wearing his favourite team's football strip... or even with his corporate sponsors...
