On the eve of the Singapore Summit, Kim pulled off still another populist scene. Mindful of the 3,000 journalists in town, Kim went for a (heavily guarded) evening stroll in which he posed for a selfie with Singapore officials. Taking full advantage of this common practice, the basic convention of so many social media platforms, how far Kim had come from the staged and doctored images of him “climbing” mountains.

The irony of the photos of the actual summit is that they were hardly interesting. But given Kim’s agenda, they didn’t have to be. The fact that Trump had afforded him visual parity on the world stage was the payoff. Otherwise, the photos appeared as staged and devoid of genuine emotion as those old pictures published by the Official Korean Central News Agency.

Notwithstanding the bizarre propaganda film trailer made by the US State Department, mixing both Hollywood and propaganda tropes, the highly anticipated coverage remained bland and unconvincing. Free of the tension between “little rocket man” and “the dotard,” the cameras did not capture any meaningful engagement between the two. Beyond the “historic” hype, and the President’s claims about concurrence and deep bonding, Trump maintained his alpha demeanor while Kim appeared more nervous than usual; both avoiding being pulled in or dominated by the other.

The most telling image of the meeting was the one documenting the signing of a vague and toothless final joint declaration–the one in which Kim pledges “to work towards” the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and the President “commits to provide security guarantees.”

Although anticipated as a Nobel-Prize-worthy event, the image, like the document, does not deliver. As is often the case with Trump’s political undertakings, the result is anti-climatic. Both leaders seem uncomfortable and disengaged. Physically separated by the flower arrangement; they do not seem to occupy the same picture.

The widely-circulated image of the politicians leaving the room is far more interesting. Because the summit was largely about posturing, the photo is best understood in terms of intimidation and control, the game both totalitarians are fluent in. Sympathetic on the surface, it could also be seen as Kim Jong Un pushing Trump out the door, or at least, having him well in hand.

At the top of this post, you saw a photo of Kim reacting with joy, celebrating a missile launch with his military team. Given the presence and situation of the monitors, however, you can also imagine the success he is celebrating is his power to harness what’s on the screen.