Reading the Pictures: Stephen Crowley's Extraordinary Photo of Santorum at an African-American Church

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A few take-aways on this wonderful shot by the NYT's Stephen Crowley of Santorum's train wreck addressing a black church in Florida:

1. God, please tell the Pastor to let us have our cellphones!

2. Hopefully Rick, you and your friends will think twice next time about all the food stamp baiting.

3. The campaign has been full of photos making fun of the candidates (1, 2) but this is something more genuine, honest ... and disturbing. It's a true "emperor's new clothes" moment, not to mention a brilliant example of the photojournalist refusing to play along.

(via NYT Florida primary slideshow. caption: Mr. Santorum addressed the congregation at the Worldwide Christian Center in Pompano Beach on Jan. 22.)

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Comments

[QuietProfessional]

03:45 PM on 02/03/2012

Amazing what you can read into a picture! Everyone here purports to be able to read those churchgoer's minds--because everyone knows exactly how black people are supposed to think, right? And, going by most of the comments posted here, they all seem to be reacting exactly as most liberals think "their kind of blacks" should react to a conservative, pro-life white guy like Santorum, i.e., with disinterest and disdain. But for starters, did you know that the church's pastor is a pro-life activist?

[SuzDuJour]

07:54 PM on 02/03/2012

A picture is worth a thousand words...

[dopper0189]

10:50 PM on 02/04/2012

Ha the people in the photo aren't reacting THEY ARE FALLING ASLEEP! You have to be awake to react.

Then again I guess technically going ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ is a reaction ha ha ha

[3fingerbrown]

02:24 PM on 02/03/2012

The two girls on the far left are killing me. Looks like they're are having a tough time keeping a straight face. One of them is pulling the old "hold the handkerchief up to your face" trick, so they can't tell you're cracking up. (Never worked for me in church either.)

The older woman behind them is poking the girl in front of her, telling her to get serious -- though the woman looks like she might lose it herself before long. This is like one of those Norman Rockwell pictures, where you can see another little story being played out whenever you look at it.

Wish the photographer would've gotten a picture over Santorum's shoulder of the congregation looking at him. I bet they looked like the audience reaction-shot in The Producers, when the chorus begins "Springtime for Hitler."

[tacevad]

12:54 PM on 02/03/2012

I am presuming that this is not the type of publicity little ricky was expecting

[crummett]

12:16 PM on 02/03/2012

The man knows how to work a crowd. Not.

[suefloyd2002]

11:39 AM on 02/03/2012

They're all thinking "Why, Lord? Why?!!"

[bash]

09:13 AM on 02/03/2012

Why are candidates campaigning in churches anyhow. If any ine of the guys or even Obama, my candidate, showed up inn my church it would be the last time I ever went there.

[QuietProfessional]

01:29 PM on 02/03/2012

Same here. The last thing I want is for my church to have any relevance to anything that might actually have a real-world impact.

[DMSmith]

11:54 PM on 02/02/2012

One picture. Million words.

[Hannah Iverson]

11:08 PM on 02/02/2012

Why does the author's second point bring up food stamps as if it were obviously linked to the people in the photo? Do better.

[SimonBao]

09:17 AM on 02/03/2012

Do you really not know?

Santorum has indeed been "food-stamp baiting" all along, but his comment about not wanting to make black people's lives better by giving them other people's money is pretty well known by now.

Have you been off-world or in a medically induced coma?

[Hannah Iverson]

02:04 PM on 02/03/2012

Yes actually. I awoke two days ago with Channing Tatum standing by my side claiming to be my husband. Weird.

Don't be so rude.

[QuietProfessional]

01:24 PM on 02/03/2012

Duh. Every black person in the photograph MUST be on food stamps. Living off of some kind of handout. Because they're all ... well, black.

[noudidnt]

08:07 PM on 02/02/2012

Half the kids are falling asleep and half are laughing; in other words,it's just another Sunday in church.

[LesaSays]

10:50 PM on 02/02/2012

Not in a Black church! You get a whack in the back of the head with a tambourine for that kind of foolishness! LOL

[sco8d]

07:52 PM on 02/02/2012

The two girls on the left are laughing at him! That or the one girl is trying to keep her lunch down. This is priceless.

[niumarmion]

05:03 PM on 02/02/2012

Please get this picture on the front pages of major news publications.

[KaliKross]

04:56 PM on 02/02/2012

My fave is the woman who appears to be hanging her head in shame. Oh, and the one with the tissue over her laughing face...

[Julie02]

04:20 PM on 02/02/2012

They seem to be thinking, "This is soooooo depressing."

[Winkandanod]

04:17 PM on 02/02/2012

These guys go around the country and openly denigrate black people in front of exhuberant crowds of bleating rednecks, then they're surprised when they are not welcomed by blacks with open arms.

This is why whenever you see a picture of a regressive in a crowd, the crowd is 99.9% white. When you do see a rare single person of color in the crowd, they are a hand picked, thouroughly vetted Uncle/Auntie Ruckus.

Someone said it earlier, his campaign team should be fired.

[Khakis and Chucks]

04:15 PM on 02/02/2012

Wow he really does not want to make Black peoples lives better. By giving them money or shutting up.