Obama joins 2 other world leaders for a selfie at Mandela’s memorial
We’ve all seen selfies taken in questionable places. During a school lockdown. In front of a man attempting suicide. At Auschwitz.
Now, some people are adding President Obama to the list of people with poor selfie judgment after the leader of the free world posed with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service Tuesday in South Africa.
It appears from photos of the incident that Obama was not the instigator (that distinction goes to Thorning-Schmidt). But he seems to have participated happily, though First Lady Michelle Obama seemed unimpressed by the whole spectacle.
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The photo has earned the world leaders a place among other funeral selfie-takers who are featured in the Tumblr “Selfies at Funerals.” In fact, the creator of the Tumblr, Jason Feifer, a senior editor at Fast Company, made the Obama selfie the final entry on the social blogging site.
“There is simply nobody bigger in the world that could have taken a selfie at a funeral,” Feifer, who also created “Selfies at Serious Places,” told the Los Angeles Times.
He said he had actually intended his last post before Tuesday’s to be the end of the Tumblr, which he started in October. But he found the Obama selfie too good to pass up -- and too good to follow up.
“Everybody has to know when it is time to bow out,” he said.
Do you think the memorial service selfie is in poor taste? Let me know on Twitter: @lauraelizdavis.
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