Associated Press photojournalist Jacquelyn Martin, covering the state visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla to the White House, was granted an unusual vantage point that produced one of the most memorable images of the diplomatic occasion.
Assigned to the official photo pool, Martin was positioned in the diplomatic room directly behind President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump as the couple stood waiting for the royal motorcade. “I’m coming up on my 20-year anniversary as a staff photojournalist for the AP based in Washington, D.C.,” she told the AP in its “One Extraordinary Photo” series. “I’ve never been granted this angle before.”
The resulting silhouette was created in an instant. “I knew that a silhouette could be a powerful way to portray these two figures standing alone,” Martin said. She underexposed the shot to render the Trumps as dark, instantly recognizable shapes against a sky that turned a dramatic blue. The first lady’s posture and the lines of the press riser draw the eye toward the waiting figures, while the Washington Monument stands ahead. “In silhouette the first lady’s posture mimics that of the monument ahead, and you can feel the gravitas of this moment, when the U.S. will host Britain on the 250th anniversary of the United States,” she explained.
Seconds later, as the king and queen’s car arrived, Martin adjusted the exposure back to normal to capture their faces — juggling a second camera body for wide shots and a third super-wide lens, while sending images to her editor in real time. “These moments are extremely competitive, fast, and can be stressful,” she noted, describing the narrow physical space where five pool photographers vied for the perfect angle. “It was really cool to be offered a different angle from the average and I was pleased to make several different images of this historic moment in time.”