Sometimes you should break the usual rules about political action photos

As Ed Maxfield and I wrote about political campaigning photos in 101 Ways To Win An Election:

Numerous photographs have triggered the reaction ‘Who is that blob in the distance?’ However close a photographer is, they can always take an extra step forward.

Our point was that you don’t want an action photograph in which your campaigners look like small lonely souls in the distance. Too small to recognise and looking lonely on their own. Instead, get in close and show the voters who they are and what they’re doing.

But as with all rules, there are the exceptions.

The massively flooded paths in several Haringey parks have demonstrated the power of the exception. For take a look at this photograph. You may not be able to see much of the campaigners but you sure can see that there is a flooding problem:

A close in photo just doesn’t have the same impact in conveying the scale of the problem along the course of the New River.

Richard Wilson, Lib Dem Leader of the Opposition on Haringey and normally an expert close-up pointer at things, has said of this problem:

These paths were so flooded that it was impossible for local residents to use them. I hope that the Labour-run council will take action and look into the cause of this flooding. It may be something as simple as blocked drains but it is worrying that the New River flows under the path, so there could be a bigger issue here.

Local resident and Lib Dem candidate for Bounds Green, Sakina Chenot, is the other person just visible in the distance in the photo:

Many local people use the path to get to from their homes to the tube station and shops. The council should check what is causing this problem and get it fixed quickly so this doesn’t happen every time we get a lot of rain.