Photo wRap: #USvote fever, Bieber, and panda-monium

Rappler Social Media Team

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

MANILA, Philippines – The US election dominated the November 4 to 10 news cycle, and as expected, this week’s Photo wRap will also be dominated by election-related images.

Did we leave something out? Let us know by posting a comment below.

Most liked, most tweeted

Just moments after US networks called the election in favor of incumbent US President Barack Obama, his team posted the simple message “Four more years” on his official campaign accounts, along with a photo of the US first couple hugging.

Photo by Scout Tufankjian, Obama for America.


Those posts on Facebook and Twitter became the most liked and most retweeted posts of all time. As of Saturday, November 10, the photo had more than 4.2 million “likes,” more than half a million shares, more than 806,000 retweets, and was “favorited” more than 290,000 times.

Scout Tufankjian, an official photographer for the Obama campaign, took the very viral photograph, and she told Slate magazine that it was taken back in August during a campaign stop in Iowa.

“It was the first day that the first lady had joined us so he hadn’t seen her in a couple of days. She came in on a bus that morning—it was the first event of the day—and they embraced on stage,” Tufankjian was quoted as saying.

She told the website that when she took the photo, she decided to focus on the couple rather than include the entire crowd in the shot, finding that their relationship was “totally aspirational” especially for a newly-married person.

She learned that her photo was used for the victory posts via an email.

Presidents cry too, y’know

But before his victory, one photograph stood out in the final hours of the grueling and bruising campaign: Obama tearing up at his final campaign sortie in Des Moines, Iowa.


The Associated Press’ Carolyn Kaster took the photograph as Obama faced the crowd in Des Moines, in the state that was a crucial turning point in his first bid for the presidency in 2008.

This was a rare moment – the Leader of the Free World showing his emotion. This was to be followed by the newly re-elected President again getting emotional speaking with staff at his Chicago campaign office.

But he’s not alone in showing emotion. Many more world leaders, particularly men, are no longer afraid of showing how they really feel, a long way from decades ago when a single tear will mean the end of one’s political career.

Transition? Sorry, Mitt

It was a close call, but in the end, Mitt Romney was not meant to win the presidential race. But in case he did win, he was ready. He even had his Presidential Transition website (accidentally) up.

Blogger Taegan Goddard spotted the supposedly transition website the day after the election, showing images of “President-Elect” Romney and encouraging people to join his government.

Goddard, who runs the site politicalwire.com, was able to save screenshots of the site, before it was taken down.

The Huffington Post said the designers of the website had it ready in “a day and a half,” and the site was turned over to the campaign just days prior to election.

CBS News explained that “[work] on a presidential transition began long before Election Day, federal funds are provided to both nominees to build transition teams and rent office space.” This helps explain why Romney was ready for a potential victory.

A warning from the National Museum

Warning: Be careful when posing beside priceless relics — or risk the wrath of museum curators.

On Friday, November 9, the National Museum of the Philippines warned people about how seemingly innocuous photo ops endangered our country’s historical artifacts. The Museum used a photo of a girl (her face blurred to protect her identity) posing beside a display inside the museum.

“You are putting the National Collection at risk when you pose next to the exhibited art and objects in this manner,” warned the museum.

“As responsible museum visitors and as concerned Filipinos, you must learn to regard the exhibitions with respect and not prop for your photographs. These are our shared heritage,” it said.

The museum has also given visitors the license to reprimand such people: “Visitors who witness such bad behavior from other visitors are requested to tell them off.”

Why so happy, Justin?

Pop star Justin Bieber must have had the time of his life on Thursday, November 8, when he performed at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in New York.

Bieber, who just turned 18, is seen in photos from the show apparently gawking at the hot bodies sharing the stage with him. In one photo shared by Ryan Seacrest on his Facebook page, the singer is spotted looking at VS “Angel” Cara Delevingne as she struts on the runway.

He was one of several A-list stars who performed on the legendary fashion show, which will be aired later this year.

Panda-monium

And finally, something cute to end your week: baby pandas.

China is celebrating the birth of 8 – yes, 8! – baby pandas born in the past year, a sort of “baby boom” for the one of the least fecund animals on the planet.

A story on Discovery News showed several photos of the cubs – 7 in China, one Japan – and all cuteness broke loose on the web.

The cubs were named (in order of birth): Oreo, Xiao Qiao, Si Yi, Yuan Run, Miao Miao, You Bin, and twins Cheng Shuang and Cheng Dui, Discovery reported. It is the first time the baby pandas have been photographed, it added.

That’s it for this week’s photo wRap! What made your week? Did we miss anything? Let us know. – Rappler.com

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