Byline: Geraldine Baum Los Angeles Times
The historian-as-flatterer staked out a point of view on a bright Maine morning.
David Valdez slowly twisted his camera's lens, focusing on the President. He saw every tick, every emotion yet recorded a selective moment.
On this warm summer day, when President Bush was managing a diplomatic crisis in the Middle East - and his vacation - Valdez, the President's personal photographer, faithfully trailed after him. On the golf course, at business meetings, and during a fishing expedition on the rough seas, Valdez shot almost 250 frames.
It is from so many mundane moments that myths are made. For while the public only gets a glimpse of Valdez's work, what he and his predecessors have photographed has shaped the world's perception of the now mythical modern American presidency.
Like the 16th-century painter who elevated his royal patron through portraiture, Valdez, with his camera, seeks to capture a unique view of one of the most important men in the world. The President swings a golf club. Click. The President gazes off with a concerned squint. Click. The President smiles at his son. Click. The President smiles, he twists, he nods. Click. Click. Click.
But of the 250 frames Valdez will shoot this day, only two will be released to the news media immediately. The rest will be filed for history to consider.
He does not shoot everything.
On this day, he did not photograph the President getting a relaxing …
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