Decoding Donald Trump’s new official portrait

Serious. Ominous. A “message picture”.

Those are some of the descriptions of Donald Trump’s newest official portrait, captured by his chief photographer, Daniel Torok. In the photo, the president-elect wears a stern expression, eyebrow cocked.

“The official portrait of the president is the most printed, most seen image of the president, ever,” former White House photographer Eric Draper told the BBC.

He worked for George W Bush throughout his eight-year presidency, taking both of his official portraits.

Mr Draper’s first impression of Trump’s image was that it was “heavily manipulated” with both studio lighting and retouching after the shoot.

The photo appeared to use “monster” lighting, he added, to dramatically illuminate the president-elect from below and make his eyes pop.

The lighting setup gives the image an “ominous” look often seen in horror films, said Eliska Sky, a portrait photographer with the London Institute of Photography. She compared the portrayal of Trump to a boxer before a fight.

The lighting “suggests seriousness and intent”, according to Paul Duerinckx, a senior documentary photography lecturer at the Swansea College of Art.

This image is striking, he added, because the light source in most photos comes from above, like the sun or ceiling lights, and flipping the source in this photo “tends to really have an effect on us”.

Many on social media compared the photo to Donald Trump’s ‘mug shot’, taken in Fulton County Jail in Georgia after he was charged with attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss – a charge Trump denies.

Photography YouTuber Jared Polin said that he discussed the portrait with Mr Torok and was told the mug shot did provide inspiration.

“The mug shot photo was one of the most searched images, maybe ever,” Polin claims Mr Torok said. Mr Torok did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

The mug shot, taken in 2023, became part of US culture, adorning everything from coffee cups to T-shirts.

The style of Trump’s new portrait is a departure from the look of his 2017 image, and that of past presidents, including George W Bush.

“You definitely make photos to please the client, and in this case, I think this is the type of image they wanted to portray,” Mr Draper told the BBC.

He recalled sitting down with then-President Bush and first lady Laura Bush to pore over a selection of images before they picked their favourite.

“The idea was to have it look like nice, pleasant lighting, have it look like a professional portrait, with a nice expression because these photos are going to be welcoming people as they walk into their post office,” he said.

Andrew Parsons is a political photographer who worked for four British prime ministers from David Cameron to Liz Truss, as well as Boris Johnson for 13 years.

“It’s a message picture, I’m delivering you a message,” he said of Trump’s photo. “It’s not like a candid laugh, it’s a stern, hard, look straight down the barrel of the lens.”

By contrast, Mr Parsons said the 2017 iteration was a “Donald Trump businessman picture”.

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of political images like Trump’s, he said. “A picture can make or break a political campaign.”