Unrepentant Vanity Fair photographer breaks silence on nasty Karoline Leavitt close-up with heartless snap over ‘injection sites’

The photographer behind Karoline Leavitt’s controversial Vanity Fair shoot has broken his silence on the close-up.

Critics blasted the former publication for ‘tasteless’ photos of President Donald Trump’s staff, which were published on Tuesday alongside a bombshell profile from Chief of Staff Susie Wiles telling all about Trump’s first year in office.

In particular, the extreme close-up shot of 28-year-old White House Press Secretary Leavitt sparked intense scrutiny for the publication, with many accusing it of being negatively biased against Trump’s staff compared to profiles published on former President Joe Biden.

Now photographer Christopher Anderson has defended his decision to publish the photo, explaining in a new interview: Independent He says he often takes close-up portraits.

‘Very close-up portraiture has been a fixture in much of my work over the years,’ he said.

‘Especially the political portraits I have done over the years. ‘I like the idea of ​​entering the political scene.’

He also responded to rumors that he was trying to make Leavitt look bad.

‘I know there’s a lot to do, ‘Oh, he’s deliberately trying to make people look bad’ and that sort of thing; “That’s not the case,” he insisted.

Photographer Christopher Anderson defended the photo (taken in 2018), insisting in a new interview with The Independent that he wasn’t deliberately trying to make it look bad.

‘If you look at my photographic work, you’ll see that I do a lot of close-ups in the same style with people of all political persuasions.’

Anderson also said Washington Post That Leavitt did not edit his footage.

‘I didn’t put the injection sites on him. People seem shocked to see that I don’t use Photoshop to retouch blemishes and injection marks. “I find it shocking that anyone would expect me to retouch these things,” he said.

‘If presenting what I see unfiltered is an attack, then what would you say if I chose to edit it, hide things about it and make them look better than they do? Also, I repeat: This has been a fixture of my work for many years.

‘I was surprised that a journalist even had to ask me the question: ‘Why didn’t I fix the flaws?’ Because if I did it would be a lie. I’d be hiding the truth of what I saw there.’

Anderson said that he always participates in shootings “not with the mission of making someone look good or bad.”

‘Whether anyone believes me or not, that’s not my goal,’ he added.

‘I wanted to make an image that faithfully depicted what I witnessed at the moment I encountered the subject.’

Social media users came to Leavitt’s defense after the disturbing close-up was posted on Instagram. seen in september

He concluded his speech as follows: ‘What can I say? This is the makeup she wears, these are the injections she gives herself. What do you want me to say if they appear in a photo?’

The article included portraits of several senior White House officials. In addition to Leavitt and Wiles, Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Deputy Chiefs of Staff James Blair and Dan Scavino, and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller also attended the shooting.

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers later told the Daily Mail: “It is clear that Vanity Fair deliberately photographed Karoline and White House staff in odd ways and deliberately edited the photos to demean and embarrass them.”

‘Karoline is a beautiful person and truly one of the most incredible people you will ever meet in politics, and she is doing an extraordinary job serving the American people as White House Press Secretary.’

After the disturbing close-up was posted on Instagram, social media users came to Leavitt’s defense; some called Vanity Fair ‘liberal propaganda’ and ‘sorry for journalism’.

Conservative commentator Benny Johnson shared screenshots of the footage on Instagram, calling it a ‘Reality distortion machine’. ‘Disgusting.’

“This is crazy, she’s gorgeous, hahaha, they had to work so hard to make her look this incredible,” one user wrote.

‘Karoline should take this as a compliment. They’re clearly threatened by him,’ declared another.

‘They know she’s fascinating and if she were on the other side she’d be on the cover in the blink of an eye. ‘I like the fact that in everyone’s mind he’s living rent-free.’

Leavitt seen on Tuesday, December 16

‘This extreme close-up shows everyone how beautiful Karoline really is! “I wish I looked this beautiful up close,” another whispered.

‘Typical liberal propaganda,’ quipped one critic.

‘Shameful Vanity Fair,’ wrote another. ‘Deliberately creating faults with a young professional woman for disagreeing with her political views…talk about talking out of both sides of your mouth.’

Another user said: ‘It’s such a shame to come for a successful woman like this.’

Another person criticized Vanity Fair for the coverage, responding to a post Wiles made on X (formerly Twitter) about the article writing: ‘Why any conservative would think Vanity Fair would write a fair article is shocking. Of course it will be negative with negative pictures, that’s what they do.

‘From now on, a staff member of Biden or Obama will be the ‘icons, stars of the Dem party’.’

But many people mocked Leavitt on Vanity Fair’s Instagram account, with one user asking: ‘Why does she look 50 years old?’

Another said: ‘I DIED! What a state of madness I would go into if such a close-up of me were published! This will live on forever and I LOVE it!’

Others claimed they could see signs of lip filler injections around her mouth.

‘Are these injection needle marks?’ asked one reader, while another commented: ‘Genius. The injection marks really sing on this one!’

Viewers noticed Leavitt had a fuller pout (left) compared to 2017 (right) after appearing on Fox News earlier this year

In September, a plastic surgeon weighed in on rumors about Leavitt’s pout, telling the Daily Mail that every job Leavitt has ever had has been pretty elaborate, if she’s had it done at all.

Even Dr. Jennifer Harrington even declared that the 28-year-old looked ‘amazing’ after seeing the footage and photos.

“In this interview, her upper and lower lips appear to have increased fullness, and her skin is flawless,” said Harrington, founder of Harrington + Associates Plastic Surgery in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Wiles’ Vanity Fair profile caused a stir over his frank criticism of Trump, Vance, former ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk and other members of the administration.

Wiles, 68, spoke to the publication over the past year and compared Trump to his late alcoholic father and legendary sportscaster Pat Summerall, describing the president as having an “alcoholic personality.”

‘The President is working’ [with] the view that there is nothing he cannot do. “Nothing, zero, nothing,” Wiles told journalist Chris Whipple.

Notably, Trump does not drink and talks about losing his older brother Fred to addiction and alcoholism.

The chief of staff also criticized Vice President Vance, noting his late MAGA conversion and early criticism of Trump. He added that the Vice President has also been ‘a conspiracy theorist for ten years.’

Trump told the New York Post that he knew what Wiles was trying to say.

He told the newspaper: ‘No, he meant I don’t drink alcohol. So everyone knows this – but I’ve often said that if I did, my chances of becoming an alcoholic would be very high. I’ve said this about myself many times. ‘He’s a very possessive personality.’

The photos were released Tuesday alongside an explosive profile of Trump’s first year in office by Chief of Staff Susie Wiles (seen Wednesday).

Wiles, 68, compared Trump to his late alcoholic father and legendary sportscaster Pat Summerall in appearances last year. Trump seen this week

‘I’ve said this many times. “I’m lucky I’m not a drinker,” Trump told The Post. ‘If I did I might well do it, because I said that – what’s the word? Not possessive – possessive and addictive type of personality. ‘Oh, I’ve said that many times before.’

Trump did not respond to other episodes of the two-part Vanity Fair series because he had not seen them.

“I haven’t read Vanity Fair, but I haven’t read it either, but he did a great job,” the president said of Wiles. ‘From what I heard the facts were wrong and the interviewer was very misled, deliberately misled.’

Leavitt used a similar phrase when quickly addressing the altercation in the White House driveway Tuesday afternoon.

“Unfortunately, this is another example of disingenuous reporting, a reporter wildly taking the chief of staff’s words out of context, not including the context in which these conversations took place, and furthermore, I think the most egregious part of this article was the clearly present omission bias,” the White House press secretary said.

He told reporters: ‘You will leave out important context, comments and facts.’