A photographer managed to capture a first-person view of the Trump assassination attempt using his Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses. Jabin Botsford, a Washington Post staff photographer, recorded the dramatic event in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The video posted by The Washington Post shows Botsford at the beginning of the event, shooting photos with his Sony a9 III camera. The video jumps to 6:10 pm when Trump begins his address to the gathered crowd.
Just three minutes later, chaos ensues as Trump is seen on the ground, protected by Secret Service agents. The video, which lasts about 45 seconds more, shows Trump getting up, raising his fist, and then being escorted off the stage. Meta Ray-Ban glasses can record videos up to 60 seconds long.
Botsford managed to find himself in prime position at the front of the crowd when the shooting started and is one of the press photographers being hailed for capturing these intimate, intense moments. One of Botford’s photos is particularly powerful and shows Trump with a bloody ear, standing with his fist raised in defiance. This particular photo could be powerful enough to alone influence the upcoming US 2024 election.
In general, the photojournalists present during the assassination attempt have been praised for doing what they are trained to do: documenting the events as they unfold without influencing the outcome and remaining calm in a potentially vulnerable situation.
“I heard the first pop, and I was like: ‘Oh, weird. Fireworks,’” Botsford told The Washington Post. “It was super scary. Nobody knew what was going on. The president fell to the ground, and I was going to make a picture of it even though the staff was like, ‘You guys need to get down.’”
[via petapixel]
