With two smartphones on his desk, Emmanuel Macron's very modern official portrait

French President Emmanuel Macron has again torn up the political rule book book with the release on Twitter of his official photo which features, in a likely first for a head of state, a pair of smartphones.

The smiling 39-year-old was photographed standing in his office in the Elysée palace, dressed in a dark suit and blue tie, his hands resting on the desk behind him, and framed by the French and the European Union flags.

Three books - Charles de Gaulle’s Memoirs, André Gide’s Fruits of the Earth, and The Red and the Black by Stendhal - sit on the desk, and behind him the windows are opened wide to show the trees in the Elysée gardens.

The scene was a minor variation on the official photos of Mr Macron’s presidential predecessors, but the detail that set it apart was the appearance of two smartphones, one on top of the other, on the desk.

French media were quick to interpret this as a sign the former banker, who defied the odds to become president and overturn the established political order, wants to be seen as a thoroughly modern leader determined to turn his country into what he calls a “start-up nation.”

Mr Macron’s media advisor later tweeted a short video giving a behind the scenes look at how the photo was taken, showing the president carefully arranging the objects on his desk before posing for the camera.

The picture was taken by Soazig de la Moissonnière, his official photographer.