BILLBOARDS are reductions. Seeing the faces of politicians posted in huge rectangular frames along the roads in various cities, we can read various things:

• The desire to be known
• The desire to be remembered
• Ambition
• Narcissism
• Some deceit—considered normal, as in advertisements
• Mediocrity

All this is recorded—summarized—in a single field. The faces are presented with virtually no variation, like muffins in a tray