I decided early in December that I wanted to travel up to New Hampshire to photograph the events leading up to the nation’s first primary elections. It would be my second visit to the Granite State, having volunteered for Howard Dean’s campaign during my senior year of high school. This time I came as an independent, both politically and financially. I was fortunate enough to find free accommodation in Portsmouth through a friend from Wesleyan. How I would go about finding the candidates once I got there, however, was another matter.
I contacted Brooks Kraft ’87, a nationally recognized photojournalist whose images have appeared in Time Magazine. He referred me to the websites that detail the candidates’ event lists.
When I arrived on Jan. 2, it was 10 degrees below zero. I wore three overcoats, a hat, gloves, and two pairs of socks, but my body still ached when I walked outside. Fortunately, throughout the following week I found myself more often in my heated car than out in the freezing cold. From the time I arrived until the day of the primaries, I probably spent more time on the road than I did behind the lens. The vast majority of the candidates’ appearances were in New Hampshire’s three largest cities: Nashua, Manchester, and Concord. All required at least an hour’s drive from Portsmouth.
Every night, I would peruse the blog sites and write down all the candidates’ events for the next day. After writing up a schedule of my own, I would drive from place to place photographing the candidates.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama attracted the largest crowds, as they spoke at larger venues. Although the New Hampshire primaries have historically been intended as an opportunity for big candidates to visit small towns and meet with real people face-to-face, much of this intimacy has been lost, according to the many photographers with whom I spoke. Photographers, bloggers and videographers mobbed the candidates everywhere I saw them, the only exception being when I heard Dennis Kucinich speak in front of 20 people (press, staff and myself included) at the University of New Hampshire.
However, I was able to attend a number of more intimate meet-and-greets. I went to see Ron Paul at the Red Arrow Diner in Manchester, I photographed Hillary Clinton at The Bagelry in Durham, I saw Mitt Romney at the Timberland headquarters, and it seemed like all the candidates made the rounds at Dunkin Donuts at least once.
Large occasions were the norm, and I quickly learned that these share many basic characteristics: the candidate enters the room, the audience rises and applauds, the candidate shakes the hands of supporters, walks up onto the stage, waves, and then waits for the audience to conclude their applause. When the speech is finished, the candidate waves once more, the audience rises yet again in applause, and the candidate goes out to shake hands before either leaving or speaking to the press. As a photographer, I began to see everything in stages: the handshaking, the speech, the exit. I had to figure out how to approach each situation, and more importantly, how to anticipate what the candidates would do next.
My time in New Hampshire was entertaining, but it was also very exhausting. I got little sleep, and at events I often had to be crouched low to the ground for long periods of time. When I photograph, I am completely focused on the images I am taking. I can hear the words that are being said, but I’m not listening. My concentration is on body language. Still some of my more meaningful moments were when I could sit down, rest my camera on the floor, and just listen, look, and marvel to myself.
Although many are growing increasingly cynical about the state of politics (and I am no exception), I took great pleasure in allowing myself to be carried away by the historical gravity of the week, and by the fact that I was within arm’s reach of the next President of the United States.
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