California is no stranger to criticism. With its sky-high taxes, rampant homelessness, and crumbling infrastructure, the Golden State often finds itself the punchline of jokes from other states. But just when you thought California couldn’t offer more material for critics, along comes the revelation that Governor Gavin Newsom is paying a famous photographer $200,000 a year to capture his every move.

In a state where homelessness is spiraling out of control, where businesses are fleeing due to oppressive regulations, and where wildfires devastate communities year after year, one might expect the governor to focus on real solutions. Instead, Governor Newsom seems more concerned with his public image, hiring Charles Ommanney, a renowned photographer who has previously worked with Mark Zuckerberg, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, to follow him around the state and ensure he looks good while pretending to address issues.

This isn’t just a matter of poor optics; it’s an outright insult to the taxpayers of California. The Los Angeles Times reports that Newsom’s office is paying Ommanney $200,000 a year—nearly as much as the governor’s salary—to take pictures of him in carefully staged settings. Whether surveying fire damage in Kern County or posing in aviator sunglasses while cleaning up a homeless encampment, Ommanney is there to ensure every angle is just right.

Let’s be clear: This isn’t about effective communication; it’s about vanity. It’s about a governor with national ambitions who is more interested in burnishing his image than tackling the real issues facing his state.

What’s wrong with having a communications person or someone from the governor’s inner circle take these pictures?

That’s not enough for Newsom. No, he needs a world-class photographer to ensure that every shot can be used as propaganda in his bid for the national stage.

This is not just wasteful; it’s a gross misallocation of resources in a state that desperately needs leadership, not a vanity project.