How Russian President Vladimir Putin Cultivated a Mastery of Visual Imagery to Consolidate Power

Throughout his tenure as Russian President, Vladimir Putin has demonstrated a keen alertness to the power of visual imagery. During the first interview with him in 2001, an aide intervened just before cameras went live, snatching away small water glasses from the table. When asked why, the aide replied: "We wouldn't want anyone to think they were for vodka. And anyway, we can't risk a glass spilling live on TV. Television is a nuclear bomb when it comes to publicity."

Television as a Tool for Power Consolidation

"Everybody in Russia, but especially Putin, realised that TV was the key to the consolidation of power," says author and political analyst Peter Pomerantsev. Over the years, Putin has transformed Russia from a fragile emerging democracy into a largely authoritarian state revolving around himself as president. He has also dramatically transformed himself. Early photos show him as a slight, reticent figure who seemed wary of the camera. The question arises: how did this seemingly quiet, retiring child and self-effacing bureaucrat turn into a president who so avidly embraced the limelight?

Putin's keen interest in the power of image far predated his rise to power. Like most youngsters growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, he was a child of the television age. His role models were the spy heroes of popular Soviet TV series and movies. By his own admission, these strong, silent double agents battling against enemies of the Soviet state were what inspired him to seek a career in the KGB, the Soviet Union's intelligence agency.

From KGB Operative to Presidential Image-Maker

As a KGB operative and then an assiduous apparatchik, Putin avoided attention. But when in 1999 he was catapulted into the role of acting president and a few months later elected president, he and his public relations advisers showed themselves acutely aware of the importance of visual imagery in shaping his presidential persona. Part of the image-making process was to edit out what was unhelpful. Putin came across as a virtual teetotaller. At annual meetings with foreign policy experts at the Valdai Discussion Club, he would stick to a cup of tea with honey while they were served fine wines.

On occasions when he did have a drink, his minders tried to keep it under wraps. A custodian of a local museum once recounted how he sat down with the president to enjoy some Russian pancakes smeared with vodka to give them an extra kick. "But don't tell anyone," he implored. "They were very strict about it. I might get into terrible trouble."

Crafting a Contrast with Boris Yeltsin

Another part of the plan was to drum home the message that Putin was nothing like his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, whose public displays of inebriation had dismayed and embarrassed many Russians. Putin donned a pilot's helmet to fly a fighter jet. His prowess at judo was displayed. All of this communicated that this was a vigorous, healthy man of action, not an ailing drunkard.

Most notorious of all, perhaps, were the series of photos starting in 2007 showing Putin bare-chested, riding a horse like a Russian Marlboro Man, or fly fishing in a river, or flexing his muscles in a vigorous butterfly stroke. Was this for real? Or was there a kind of knowing humour to the images? Pomerantsev thinks the people in charge of his public relations knew exactly what they were doing. "For one audience, this is very crass, but we're going to do it in an ironic way, so that it's kind of cool. For another audience, it was that Russia should be led by a traditional hardman hero."

Projecting Machismo in a Modern Media Era

Pomerantsev adds: "Putin was playing this sort of very, very, I suppose, traditional Soviet leadership role, but he was doing it in an era of the reality show, MTV and sugar." From schoolboy to the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin, Putin has used visual imagery to consolidate power, transforming both the country and his own public persona.

Context

The strategic use of visual imagery and media manipulation to consolidate political power has parallels in other authoritarian regimes. For example, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi leveraged his media empire to craft a carefully controlled public image, while North Korean state media has long produced highly staged imagery of its leaders to project strength and infallibility.