The Story Behind TIME's Trump and Putin 'Summit Crisis' Cover
At first glance, the man on TIME’s July 30, 2018, cover might seem familiar: it was created by morphing images of two of the world’s most recognizable men, President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The composite image, by visual artist Nancy Burson, is meant to represent this particular moment in U.S. foreign policy, following the pair’s recent meeting in Helsinki, Finland.
To represent that conflict, Burson merged the faces of Trump and Putin into a still image and video that morphs between the shifting appearances of the two world leaders.
Over three decades ago, Burson — featured in TIME’s 100 Photographs, which documented the most influential photographs of all time — began her pioneering photographic work with MIT scientists, leading to the development of computer-generated compositing technology.
“I wanted to create answers to unasked questions,” says Burson, about the origins of her artistic process, “like what would it look like if you put six men and six women together?”
She became well known for developing a technique to age faces, which is used by the FBI to find missing children. Most famously, she created the aged image of kidnapped 6-year-old Etan Patz that appeared on the front page of the New York Post in 1985.
The November 2, 1985, cover featuring Burson's altered image of Etan Patz. |
She says the goal of her latest composite is to help readers “stop and think” when it comes to similarities between the two leaders.
“What my work has always been about is allowing people to see differently,” she adds. “The combining of faces is a different way for people to see what they couldn’t see before.”
“I think the best art can change people’s perception of how they see how they are as human beings,” says Burson. “Art makes everything possible and beyond.”
Source: Time
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