The striking photos depict every freckle, line, strand of hair and makeup smudge on White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles<\/a>, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt<\/a>, Vice President JD Vance<\/a>, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, <\/a>Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller, Director of Presidential Personnel Office Dan Scavino, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Political and Public Affairs James Blair.<\/p>\n For many, seeing every imperfection on the faces of the typically polished political figures was jaw-dropping. <\/p>\n \u201cDiabolical,\u201d \u201cdone dirty,\u201d \u201ccrazy,\u201d Instagram users commented. <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is a key member of Trump\u2019s inner circle, but she typically remains out of the spotlight when it comes to the cabinet\u2019s media presence (Christopher Anderson\/Vanity Fair)<\/p>\n But despite the public reaction, the photos were not taken to deliberately show the Trump officials\u2019 bad sides. <\/p>\n For photographer Christopher Anderson, the images are consistent with his style of close-up portraiture<\/a>. Anderson is an award-winning photographer who has contributed to the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Esquire, and the Wall Street Journal. He won a Robert Capa Gold Medal for his photographs of Haitian immigrants sailing to the U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cVery close-up portraiture has been a fixture in a lot of my work over the years,\u201d Anderson told The Independent. \u201cParticularly, political portraits that I\u2019ve done over the years. I like the idea of penetrating the theater of politics.\u201d<\/p>\n Anderson and his team spent the day at the White House for the feature on November 13. They met with each profiled member in their office for the Vanity Fair portraits. Using a medium-format camera and specific lighting, Anderson sought to capture them in his signature style.<\/p>\n \u201cI know there\u2019s a lot to be made with, \u2018Oh, he intentionally is trying to make people look bad\u2019 and that kind of thing \u2013 that\u2019s not the case,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cIf you look at my photograph work, I\u2019ve done a lot of close-ups in the same style with people of all political stripes.\u201d<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Instagram users described the portrait of JD Vance as a \u2018jump scare\u2019 and requested a \u2018content warning\u2019 (Christopher Anderson\/Vanity Fair)<\/p>\n In theory, Anderson\u2019s creative vision aligns closely with the repeated sentiments of Trump officials – that this is \u201cthe most transparent administration in history.\u201d <\/a><\/p>\n Perhaps too transparent for some, though. <\/p>\n \u201cJesus Christ a warning next time please,\u201d comedian Kelsey Darragh wrote on a post that featured a very close-up photo of Leavitt\u2019s face. <\/a><\/p>\n The photo of Leavitt, 28, the administration\u2019s \u201cmouthpiece,\u201d as Vanity Fair describes her<\/a>, became the more standout image for displaying every facial imperfection \u2013 including what some believe to be injection site marks on the press secretary\u2019s lips. <\/a><\/p>\n Leavitt\u2019s portrait captured significantly more attention than any of the other portraits posted on Vanity Fair\u2019s Instagram, with more than 20,000 views and 2,000 comments in roughly eight hours.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Leavitt has not publicly commented on the photo. The Independent has asked the White House for comment on the photographs.<\/p>\n Anderson said he photographed each member of the administration the same way, but \u201cfound it interesting to be even closer\u201d to Leavitt.<\/p>\n \u201cAbove all else, [I] try to cut through the image that politics want to project and get at something that is more truthful,\u201d Anderson said. <\/p>\n On a particularly detailed photo of Secretary Rubio looking pensive, one person quipped: \u201cDid VF use the camera from the dermatologist that shows sun damage??\u201d<\/p>\n Anderson said photos were chosen based on what looked best for each person. For Rubio, in addition to a portrait, they chose a candid photo of the secretary looking out the window to best depict him.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n In addition to the portrait of Marco Rubio (left), Anderson took a candid photo of the Secretary of State (right) which was used in the Vanity Fair article (Christopher Anderson\/Vanity Fair)<\/p>\n The magazine\u2019s story featured various key members of Trump\u2019s inner circle but mainly focused on Wiles, the first woman to hold White House chief of staff position, whom Trump has nicknamed \u201cIce Maiden.\u201d<\/p>\n In a series of particularly candid interviews, Wiles gave a brutally honest recount of the president\u2019s second stint in the White House. She referred to her boss as having \u201can alcoholic\u2019s personality\u201d and claimed Vance had been a \u201cconspiracy theorist for a decade.\u201d<\/p>\n Up-close photos of Wiles depict her wide eyes and curled silver locks. <\/p>\n \u201cMugshot,\u201d an Instagram user posted. <\/p>\n \u201cAre the close ups bad on purpose for all of them?\u201d another post read.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Upon publication, Wiles pushed back on the accuracy of the article, claiming it was \u201c<\/a>disingenuously false\u201d<\/a> and that Vanity Fair had taken quotes out of context. She did not comment on the photos taken by Anderson.<\/p>\n \u201cI see my job doing that as a responsibility to portray what I encounter,\u201d Anderson said of his portraiture. <\/p>\n He maintains that responsibility, even in awkward moments \u2013 such as when Stephen Miller approached him after their photoshoot to give him a gentle reminder about how he portrays his subjects.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we were finished, [Miller] came up to me and he said, \u2018You know you have a lot of power in the discretion you use to be kind to someone in your photographs,\u2019\u201d Anderson recalled. \u201cAnd I look at him and I said, \u2018You know, you do too.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know how much he related to that,\u201d Anderson added.<\/p>\n![\"White](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/202602-portfolio-SW2.jpg\")
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