And they were faintly ashamed of the local blackhouses, preferring instead to be pictured against the newfangled harling.
So Ms Grybauskaite avoids the embarrassment of being pictured against the pictures of Stalin which are likely to adorn the Moscow streets.
He finds peculiar objects, including a pair of wooden cutouts that he identifies as sock-drying implements, pictured against a background of toile, a favorite textile.
ITV, Britain's biggest commercial broadcaster, complained earlier this month when the BBC scheduled a popular dance competition, "Strictly Come Dancing" (pictured), against its own popular talent show, "The X-Factor".
Her campaign poster has no sign of Ukip's lurid yellow and purple colours but shows her pictured against a blue sky and green grass background – a trademark of David Cameron's Conservative Party.
The photo does, however, allow visitors to be pictured against a backdrop typically available only to a small group of diplomats and to travellers with the ability to secure rare visas.
