The World's Most Photographed: John F Kennedy

Series which unearths photographs previously lost or suppressed, to explore the power of the image and the nature of iconography. It decodes the carefully constructed public image of ten of the world's most photographed people to reveal more about the personalities, lives and intentions of the subjects. This programme explores the way that John F Kennedy used photography to help to promote an image that was at odds with his frail state of health and his compulsive promiscuity. Kennedy was one of the most popular presidents of the United States of America, who understood the power of the photograph and exploited it more effectively than any other politician before him. He was a totally new kind of president: glamorous and informal, a patriot with a glittering war record, and a loving father and husband. But while he seemed to be exposing his whole life to the camera, in fact he was concealing two secrets - secrets so explosive they had the power to destroy his presidency. episode 6