2021 Federal Council photo: no mask, no space, kitsch

This is how the government presents itself (from left to right): Viola Amherd, Simonetta Sommaruga, Ignazio Cassis, Guy Parmelin, Ueli Maurer, Alain Berset, Karin Keller-Sutter and Federal Chancellor Walter Thurnherr.

Image: Markus A. Jegerlehner

So close, so distant! The Federal Councilors are almost huddled together, they are so close together in the new Federal Council photo, so close that we are no longer used to it. The symbolism, chosen by the new federal president Guy Parmelin, is as clear as it is not surprising: we are united.

As a precautionary measure, the federal government has included a “making-of” video to make it clear to everyone: This is a corona-compatible montage of images. The federal councilors stood one by one in front of the camera and, of course, the stylist wore a mask and gloves when she smoothed the magistrates’ hair. Accompanied by music that one would have called optimistic decades ago (synth sends its regards!), You can even find out which hairspray was used. There is rarely so much transparency in Bern.

Thanks to Photoshop, the Federal Council has created an ideal and slightly kitsch world. It is true that the task for Federal President Parmelin and the photographer was difficult: group photos are complicated today. At a distance of five feet, the magistrates would have seemed lost.

And thanks to image processing, the true proportions could also be conveyed: Parmelin, the “Primus inter Pares” of 2021, clearly stands out above all others. In fact, the Minister of Economy has grown. But in real life, Alain Berset rises almost above his colleague Ueli Maurer, and not just a bald man.

Is there already a ray of light on the horizon?

As a backdrop, Parmelin has chosen a nice photo of the Federal Palace, where he can show how modern and innovative he is (after all, he is also the head of the Secretary of State for Education, Research and Innovation!). Photographer Markus A. Jegerlehner took the photo with a drone. The result is an image that Bern Tourism could hardly wish for better. And one wonders: is the ray of light already on the horizon?

The bird’s-eye view photo is meant to “allow a new view of the familiar,” as it is officially called. You could also say: old wine in new bottles. According to the announcement, former winemaker and new federal president Parmelin says:

“It is important to me that in these difficult times we look at the seemingly immovable together and impartially.”

Who helps out here?

Big words shouldn’t be said these days about appearance. But three things stand out. First: the color blue is popular in the Federal Council, with Viola Amherd and Simonetta Sommaruga cleverly setting counterpoints with wine red and beige. Second: Ueli Maurer, as always with a Swiss cross on his lapel, evidently didn’t feel like smiling. Third: Vice President Ignazio Cassis’s tie is vaguely reminiscent of a famous flower sofa, but here we prefer to remain silent.

Anyway, there is something more concerning: the hands of the Federal Councilors are missing. That may be correct in terms of the composition of the image, but because of the symbolism? Who helps out here, who does the work? Are you just analyzing, observing and thinking? Or is someone also performing here?

After all: in contrast to last year’s photo of the Federal Council, which looked rather bleak, this year’s one radiates a lot of optimism. And we can really use that earlier this year.

Photos of the Federal Council from today until 1993: