This can’t really be what the designers intended, right?
As I was just discussing with @bpsycho1 on Twitter, my suspicion is that the designers imagined a different type or different types of photos, and that the editors either never got the memo or are sloppy about executing the concept. The composition does work pretty well in some instances – like with the photo below or even in a way on the Obama photo shown in my prior post on this peevy subject.
Well that’s a level three Godwin violation, purging of the kulaks might be closer,