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22 July 2011

White House Situation Room Photo Campaign

This shows the public campaign of Flickr photos of the storied White House Situation Room from January 23, 2009 to June 21, 2011. Second only to the Oval Office as an iconic, uniquely presidential, performance stage, the Situation Room has been campaigned by the Obama administration far in excess of any previous president.

The campaign began modestly, about one photo per month, in low resolution. Gradually the number and resolution increased, as did number of views on Flickr. By far the peak of the campaign are the photos on May 1, 2011 which show Situation Room performance for the announcement of the Osama bin Laden raid and killing. Views of four photos from that day, over 3.8 million (2.5 million views of the most famous one), amount to many times more than all other views combined. Charts below show the pattern of the 56 photos and their public views.

Presumably the campaign is in response to Obama's openness initiative but also to take advantage of social media's bountiful reach to display the gravitas of national security performance in its most celebrated "bunker" (although not really a bunker but only a Ground Floor office complex).

The photos and number of views are taken from the Flickr White House Photostream (views dated July 21, 2011). Links are provided to the full-size originals which have EXIF data embedded. The White House website version of the photos are not included.

White House Situation Room Photo Campaign

Above left, Ground Floor west entrance to the West Wing. The Situation Room complex is to the right of the doorway, see plan at right. The video conference room marked in red is usually called the Situation Room. The president sits with his back to the upper wall adjacent to the doorway. Note window openings at the left side of this space, visible from the exterior for historical appearance but blocked inside for security. Around November 2010 the Situation Room was renovated to add louvered wooden shutters to window openings of the west wall, replacing fabric panels. (Left, White House, Pete Souza via Flickr, June 21, 2010; right, WhiteHouseMuseum.org.) Outside participants at Situation Room sessions usually arrive through the White House southwest gate and West Executive Avenue, below, to enter the west door shown above and thus by-pass the principal media stakeout at the northwest gate.

January 23, 2009 17,200 Views (650 x 433) Uploaded on Jan 20, 2010 [sic]

March 16, 2009 20,625 Views (640 x 426) Uploaded on Apr 28, 2009

April 14, 2009 35,726 Views (640 x 427) Uploaded on Apr 28, 2009

May 12, 2009 12,374 Views (650 x 391) Uploaded on May 14, 2009

May 12, 2009 9,996 Views (650 x 433) Uploaded on May 14, 2009

May 12, 2009 15,311 Views (640 x 426) Uploaded on May 14, 2009

June 30, 2009 5,352 Views (640 x 426) Uploaded on Aug 13, 2009

August 13, 2009 11,331 Views (640 x 426) Uploaded on Aug 26, 2009

August 18, 2009 36,281 Views (3500 x 2333) Uploaded on Aug 18, 2009

September 17, 2009 8,125 Views (3500 x 2333) Uploaded on Oct 8, 2009

September 29, 2009 25,276 Views (3500 x 2402) Uploaded on Sep 29, 2009

September 30, 2009 19,493  Views (3500 x 2334) Uploaded on Sep 30, 2009

October 5, 2009 12,391 Views (3500 x 2333) Uploaded on Oct 15, 2009

October 5, 2009 11,099 Views (3500 x 2333) Uploaded on Oct 15, 2009

October 7, 2009 15,823 Views (3500 x 2333) Uploaded on Oct 7, 2009

October 9, 2009 17,928 Views (3500 x 2333) Uploaded on Oct 15, 2009

October 9, 2009 34,413 Views (3500 x 2334) Uploaded on Oct 9, 2009

October 14, 2009 18,241 Views (640 x 426) Uploaded on Oct 21, 2009

October 30, 2009 19,646 Views (3000 x 2000) Uploaded on Oct 30, 2009

November 11, 2009 25,058 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Nov 11, 2009

November 23, 2009 16,825 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Nov 23, 2009

December 11, 2009 8,272 Views (2731 x 4096) Uploaded on Dec 16, 2009

2010

January 5, 2010 16,832 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Jan 5, 2010

January 13, 2010 16,536 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Jan 13, 2010

February 17, 2010 23,429 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Feb 17, 2010

February 17, 2010 10,408 Views (650 x 433) Uploaded on Mar 9, 2010

February 27, 2010 10,705 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Feb 27, 2010

February 27, 2010 14,567 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Feb 27, 2010

March 12, 2010 19,035 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Mar 12, 2010

March 24, 2010 5,844 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on May 15, 2010

April 16, 2010 14,998 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Apr 16, 2010

May 4, 2010 13,103 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on May 4, 2010

11,514 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on May 6, 2010

6,651 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on May 6, 2010

15,617 Views (3812 x 2178) Uploaded on Jun 23, 2010

23,301 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Sep 17, 2010

24,868 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Oct 19, 2010

6,829 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Dec 8, 2010

New louvers in west window openings have been installed.

11,269 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Dec 8, 2010

2011

22,485 Views (650 x 433) Uploaded on Mar 7, 2011

13,258 Views (650 x 433) Uploaded on Mar 7, 2011

28,016 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Apr 11, 2011

26,291 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Apr 11, 2011

16,192 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Apr 11, 2011

17,543 Views (2731 x 4096) Uploaded on Apr 11, 2011

14,226 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Apr 11, 2011

12,532 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Apr 11, 2011

13,250 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Apr 11, 2011

11,878 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Apr 11, 2011

366,750 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on May 2, 2011

2,557,076 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on May 2, 2011

498,772 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on May 2, 2011

402,277 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on May 2, 2011

8,918 Views (4096 x 2730) Uploaded on Jun 26, 2011

10,607 Views (4096 x 2731)  Uploaded on Jul 14, 2011

9,030 Views (4096 x 2731) Uploaded on Jul 14, 2011