普京总统写真的艺术
The Art of the Vladimir Putin Photo Shoot
VANESSA FRIEDMAN
2021年3月25日
There are photo shoots, there are presidential photo shoots — and then there are Vladimir Putin presidential photo shoots. Rarely has the leader of a global power embraced the staged publicity still with such creative, yet clichéd, fervor, not just feeding the global desire for a caricature of himself, but actually creating it.
有人拍写真，有人拍总统写真——还有一种叫做弗拉基米尔·普京(Vladimir Putin)的总统写真。极少有全球大国的领导人依旧对摆拍宣传有极大的创作热忱——虽然创意老套。不仅投喂全球人民的好奇心，还要去激发这种好奇。
Cue, for example, his latest propaganda foray, released by the Kremlin, as bilateral relations with the United States turn frosty, and with the Russian opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny’s description of Mr. Putin as “Vladimir, the Poisoner of Underpants” still reverberating through the air.
比如克里姆林宫发布的他的最新宣传动作，此时与美国的双边关系变得冷淡，俄罗斯反对派领导人阿列克谢·A·纳瓦尔尼(Aleksei A. Navalny)对普京的称呼“内裤下毒者弗拉基米尔”仍然余音缭绕。
In a series of photos of Mr. Putin on a weekend jaunt to the snowy Siberian taiga, the 68-year-old president is shown in his usual favorite outdoor setting, displaying his connection to nature, manly toughness and appreciation of country. In the vastness of the largely empty landscape, he looms large. At least that was probably the idea.
普京在周末白雪皑皑的西伯利亚针叶林地带进行短途旅行，期间拍摄的一系列照片中，现年68岁的总统出现在他平时最喜欢的户外环境中，展示了他与自然的联系、阳刚的坚韧和对乡村的欣赏。在空旷的广阔土地上，他看上去很显要。至少可能是这么设计的。
He is, to be specific, caught — as if by chance! — looking serious and steely behind the wheel of a camo-covered all-terrain vehicle so giant it seems nothing could stop it; posing knee-deep in a snowy drift while wearing a plush-yet-cozy sheepskin jacket, matching pants and ivory turtleneck and looking piercingly toward the future; calmly navigating a rickety bridge over a frozen river with his defense minister, Sergei Shoygu, trailing behind; and then enjoying a bracing outdoor picnic of sausages and crudités with Mr. Shoygu (who is wearing a matching outfit) at a table covered in a white cloth, fur blankets tossed over the benches and metal mugs raised in harmony.
具体来说，他被抓拍到——就好像是偶然的！——开着迷彩覆盖的全地形车，看上去犹如钢铁般严肃，车身如此巨大，看上去势不可挡；身穿豪华但舒适的羊皮夹克，搭配配套的裤子和象牙白高领衫，站在齐膝的雪地里摆姿势，敏锐地眺望未来；平静地驶过一架摇摇欲坠的桥，桥下是冰冻的河面，他的国防部长谢尔盖·绍伊古(Sergei Shoygu)跟在后面；然后与绍伊古（穿着和他一样的衣服）坐在铺着毛皮毯子的长凳上，在一张铺着白布的桌子上享用有香肠和蔬菜拼盘的宜人户外野餐，并一同举起金属杯子。
Cold? What cold?
冷？冷是什么？
Most political leaders favor sanctioned pictures of themselves looking serious and hard at work in the office. President Obama, for example, often posed behind his desk and with sleeves rolled up. President Emmanuel Macron of France famously released a “making of” video about his official portrait, depicting himself carefully arranging various symbolic accessories on his desk.
大多数政治领导人都偏向于自己在办公室看上去严肃认真工作的正式照片。例如，照片上的奥巴马总统常常是坐在桌子后面，袖子挽起来。众所周知，法国总统伊曼纽尔·马克龙(Emmanuel Macron)发布了他的官方肖像的“制作过程”视频，视频中他自己在办公桌上精心地布置各种象征性装饰品。
But Mr. Putin has always opted for a different approach. One that emphasizes the physical over namby-pamby paper-pushing, and speaks to old stereotypes of virility, strength and machismo. Not to mention good health. The kind that allows you to stay in office for a long time.
但是普京一直选择一个不一样的方式。他的方式强调身体的强壮，而不是矫揉造作地忙活文书，给人以男子气概、力量和大男子主义的旧时刻板印象。更别提还有身体的健康。那种可以让你连任很久的健康。
It has become a sort of absurdist art form unto itself.
它本身已经成为一种荒诞派艺术形式。
He was pictured, for example, in a similar sheepskin outfit in 2010 — though without the matching fur hat and mittens — riding through the Siberian snow on horseback, and on a trip to the Russian Arctic, hugging a polar bear. He has ridden a motorbike in black leather (a photo that was so popular, a British company, Matchless London, named a jacket in his honor), played ice hockey (making many goals) and worked out with the Russian judo team.
例如，在2010年，照片中的他穿着类似的羊皮外套——虽然没有配套的毛皮帽子和手套——在西伯利亚雪地上纵马驰骋，还有在前往俄罗斯北极地区旅行的途中，和一只北极熊拥抱。他曾穿着黑色皮衣骑摩托车（那张照片很受欢迎，以至于一家英国公司Matchless London以他的名字命名了一件夹克），打冰球（进了很多球），以及与俄罗斯柔道队一起训练。
This action-man framing reached its apogee in 2017, when Mr. Putin was photographed mostly bare chested while hunting, spearfishing and otherwise pursuing manly activities in the Siberian outdoors. Afterward, he was caught basking shirtless in the sun, eyes hidden by black shades.
对战斗人设的塑造在2017年达到顶峰，当时普京的照片大多是在西伯利亚户外光着上身狩猎、用鱼叉捕鱼，或者进行其他显示男子气概的活动。在那之后，他被拍到在太阳底下赤膊晒太阳，眼睛被黑色的墨镜遮盖。
“How could you not vote for a torso like that?” a Moscow newspaper asked at the time. It probably only seemed like a rhetorical question.
“你怎能不投票给这样的身体？”当时莫斯科的一家报纸问道。它可能只是听上去像反问。
By 2019, Mr. Putin had pivoted his image-making to shots that referenced his bond with the earth rather than his dominance of the same, posing while sitting peacefully in a field clutching a bouquet of wildflowers he presumably picked himself, or reclining on a craggy tor. Nevertheless, he remained costumed in shades of olive green and silhouettes that resembled fatigues. The implicit messaging was still tough. It was just more about tough love.
到2019年，普京将摄影创作的重点从主宰大地转向了他与大地的联结，照片中的他手里攥着一束大概是他自己采的野花，平静地坐在农田里，或是躺在峻峭的岩石上。不管怎样，他仍然穿着橄榄绿色的、轮廓犹如制服的衣服。隐含的信息仍然是坚韧。可能这次更多的是坚韧的爱。
The new Siberia photos are firmly in line with this tradition. If they are not exactly subtle — indeed, the image-making is so obvious, it has inspired a fair share of social media ridicule and memes — it is also true that when it comes to Mr. Putin, subtlety has never really been part of the … well, picture.
新的西伯利亚照片完全符合这一传统。虽然并不十分含蓄——的确，形象塑造太明显了，已经在社交媒体上激发了相当多的嘲笑和迷姆——对于普京来说，含蓄从来不是，呃，照片的一部分，这也是事实。
