 In spite of the informality suggested by the cigarette , University of Tennessee photography professor Baldwin Lee points out that the photo was carefully planned and posed . According to Lee , Westcott instructed Oppenheimer to sit " slightly askance " and to lean forward slightly , and then he took the photograph from a low vantage point that " makes the viewer physically look up at the man , " thus enhancing the subject 's perceived importance . Lee 's critique also notes that Oppenheimer 's gaze does not appear to be directed anywhere in the room , but instead is aimed at " something very distant and something only he can see . " 
