She has also been the subject of another legal action while first lady, after threatening to sue an English-language school in Croatia over a series of billboards featuring her face.
One of Melania's favourite subjects is New York's Central Park, but strikingly, it is only ever photographed from Trump Tower or the window of a moving car. Imbach suggests it is possible the 46-year-old has never actually walked in the park.
She also posted 74 photographs taken from her home in the penthouse suite of Trump Tower in New York City, all snapped from practically the exact same place and appearing to chart the changing seasons.
"There is a striking passivity to the Trump Tower view photographs", Imbach says. "She never changed the composition of these landscapes, she placed no personal mark on them. The time of day changes, she takes a photo, that’s it.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
"There is a calmness, a kind of safety, to this approach," she adds. "The earth moves around the sun but the photographer is stable, in the exact same position, day after day."
It is also notable that Melania is looking down from the tower on the people below, "like a queen", Imbach says.
Imbach also thinks the images Melania takes of herself are interesting, saying the First Lady rarely posts pictures of her face but when she does, she adjusts the lighting balance so the details are largely obscured. In those pictures where she doesn't do this, her face is obscured by a hat or sunglasses. She also often crops out her head altogether so she is just legs or breasts.
"She hides, in other words, even when she is presenting herself," Imbach says.
Imbach concludes that Melania is "living inside a dark fairytale, and in fairytales the women trapped in towers never save anyone but themselves".
To continue reading this article...
Create a free account
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
register for free
Already have an account? Sign in
Subscribe to The Week
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Subscribe & Save
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Unlimited website access is included with Digital and Print + Digital subscriptions. Create an accountwith the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Turkey halts trade with Israel in latest Gaza rift
Today's political cartoons - May 3, 2024
Biden tackles campus protests, deplores 'chaos'
