Photographers on the campaign trail

We asked one of our clickbooq photographers to tell us what it was like being on the campaign trail. Lonnie C. Major, who shot the cover of the January issue of BLACK ENTERPRISE magazine, describes the three days he followed Senator Barack Obama on the campaign trail in Des Moines, Iowa in January 2008.

“[Senator Barack] Obama really changed my whole view on the country and politics as a whole. I felt all the love that Iowa had in their heart for a man that I knew so little about at the time, leading up to what may be history in the making…. I remember in a town hall meeting, a lady stood up and said that her son was fighting in the war and she wanted her son to come home. Barack held the woman’s hand and looked into her eyes and told her if he’s president that he would end the war and bring the troops home safe.

The days following that speech I would have my moment with Senator Obama…. I knew I had to do two setups with him and had two locations in mind. I had to act really quickly and had to make sure that all my Canon 5D’s were all working…. When Senator Obama finally walked into the classroom [I had] transformed into a studio with studio lights and stands, I told him what kind of look I wanted from him. He smiled and told me he only had three looks and he gave me all three of his looks – a man true to his words. I had another setup in the college auto shop of him which was on the presidential blue background which we ran for the cover of Black Enterprise magazine.

In the middle of shooting he did stop to talk to my team and to explain his plans for changing the country for the better and creating jobs and bringing an end to the war. He also told us that this is what he always wanted to do, that you should always dream big and live your dream. Three days that I will always remember … [to] capture a man and his dream and his message to America.”