Bush Oops: Presidential Photo Ops Gone Awry [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Sean Kelly (Author), Hal Buell (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004

Photo ops, aka photo opportunities, are a staple of political management. Photo oops are photo ops with a twist. In BUSH Oops, 110 hysterically human shots of Dubya have been culled from news bureaus and captioned for even more pointed effect.

In this regime of meticulously staged, compulsively controlled presidential appearances on podium and screen, on aircraft carrier or Mt. Rushmore, it is a relief to be reminded that accidents do happen, sometimes for the sidesplitting benefit of the dutiful audience.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

110 hysterically human shots of Dubya have been culled from news bureaus and captioned for even more pointed effect.

In this regime of meticulously staged, compulsively controlled presidential appearances on podium and screen, on aircraft carrier or Mt. Rushmore, it is a relief to be reminded that accidents do happen,sometimes for the side splitting benefit of the dutiful audience.

About the Author

Hal Buell is a veteran photo editor who acted as the operating head of the Associated Press picture service for 25 years. He lives in Bronxville, New York.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579123724
• ISBN-13: 978-1579123727
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,091,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Funny, June 7, 2004

By 

B. Hauber "Bubblegum Books" (Cleveland, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bush Oops: Presidential Photo Ops Gone Awry (Paperback)

This book features a great selection of mostly less-than-flattering images of W. The captions that accompany each photo make for a pretty hilarious, light-hearted book. Even if you're a Bush fan, there's enough humor in here to keep you laughing out loud.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When Photo Ops become Photo Oops..., March 10, 2005

By 

J. Guild (Toronto,Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bush Oops: Presidential Photo Ops Gone Awry (Paperback)

This is just a fun little book.What we have here is a collection of 107 photos.There is nothing special about any of these pictures.A lot of them were actully posed for but a totally unconnected caption is added that makes the connection very humorous.A lot of the others are shots that are taken when the President is off guard,relaxed,or even clowning around.It is easy to get shots like this since the cameras are flashing continuously.It kind of reminds me of when I tried to get my 3 kids to pose for a group shot.It also shows how much expressions change even when they are aware that a camera is on them.So, to anyone who has lots of "discards",it is quite simple to spread some out and come up with some great comments to attach to them.One should not take offense at these photos or add any particular political bias over it all as it has been done about many prominent persons.Any world leader and particularly the Queen of England and the Pope are often subjects and of course all presidents at all times.
I am sure President Bush would get a good laugh out of them,and could even come up with as good or better captions.
An even better approach would be to take an actual comment made,then add it to a totally disconnected photo.It would even be fun to take the photos in this book,remove the captions and come up with your own.Hey,have I just invented a parlour game?
This same thing has frequently been done with animals.One of my favorites is a head shot of a Bald Eagle with the caption "But I am smiling".
For some time I have kept a collection of shots of celebrity faces ,with everything removed but the eyes.It's like a puzzle book where the object is to guess who the eyes belong to. Maybe it would be fun to make your own book of photos,either your own snapshots or photos from papers or magazines and come up with your own captions.Who says you could never write a book?
Anyway, an entertaining little book that is good for a half hour's look through;but an idea that could be developed as a personal or group entertainment.

7 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a biased sequel to a great unbiased book, May 10, 2004

By 

Ted "Ted" (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bush Oops: Presidential Photo Ops Gone Awry (Paperback)

The first book "Photo Oops" contained photos of many different politicians both Democrat, Republican and others in awkward moments.

This book contains solely photos of President Bush in awkward moments. From this, it appears that the authors decided to join in on the "Bush bashing" Aren't there enough new photos yet for a bipartisan book? (not that I suppport Bush) There are certianly a lot of Bush photos, maybe because he got most of the media attention.

They should do a third book after the election is over with some of the candidates in awkward moments. The photo of Howard Dean's famous scream would be a great cover photo!