OK, before folks freak out, I have gotten to know the staff at the Orange County Board of Elections fairly well over the last 5 years. They’re friendly, professional and have always gone the extra mile to clarify issues/fix problems. I’m fairly sure they had no hand in the selection of this, ummmm, very white image to welcome all of Orange County’s voters to their site.
Orange County has recently spiffed up their website, making it more difficult to navigate by some folks estimation (besides making it more difficult to find contact info, having used the old site extensively for general research, I concur).
I’m sure the pictured family are fine upstanding citizens raring to vote. I’m also pretty sure I could find local analogues (maybe even doppelgangers) living right around the corner. Still, for a department interested in encouraging the greatest participation, the drama implicit in the image is rather interesting.
At least they have the flag hanging properly, something few seem to be able to do!
Fred, I just showed this to my wife and her friend and they were astonished. She thought that voting was about equal opportunity, that the images attendant should be multi-cultural, etc. Also, we thought the folks far-a-way look, the camera angle was strange and distancing.
I think the problem is that they didn’t give much thought to the image and how it would be seen by some. I truly hope it is a sin of the head and not of the heart, but time will tell.
Will, the picture is now of an American flag. Good work!