“…it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.” -from Barack Obama’s Inauguration speech
These 11 photos are my little tribute to the Americans that Obama conjured, or at least the ones that came out on that very cold day. Having covered the 2005 Inauguration of President Bush from a secure and isolated perch on the Capitol with many other photographers, I wanted this time to be close to the people. I had the idea that I wanted to shoot portraits of young children for whom a black president might feel normal and members of a much older generation, many of whom could never imagine the election of Barack Obama. Due to time constraints and massive crowds, the pictures turned into a vignette of the experience around the Washington Monument. I did not do this consciously but I noticed that most of my subjects are not wearing Obama merchandise. Perhaps relfecting my own hope for a unified America…or maybe I was just trying to get past cliches. I shot 23 frames on an old Yashica Mat-124G TLR from about 9am to 10am. By 10am, the area was shoulder to shoulder and I was afraid I would not find my way back to my wife and friends. View the video below to see the amount of people I had to wade through to find them. I also thought it would be interesting to contrast my 2009 photos with my 2005 photos.
View the 2009 Inauguration pictures
View the 2005 Inauguration pictures
- This video I shot on a point and shoot camera when Obama was introduced gives an idea of how crowded it was.
3 Comments
Wow, what a difference between events. All beautiful images, great work.
Nice collection of images. You really get a sense of how cold it was for people standing on the Mall.
Great pictures. I’m so glad you put the two inaugurations side by side, the contrast is quite striking. The anger in the faces of the protesters in 2005 is particularly vivid in comparison to the peace on so many of the faces at Obama’s inauguration. And I love that you got these images of people in the crowd, because while I’ve seen many great photos of dignitaries and the inauguration ceremony, these photos gave me a much better feel for what it must have been like to be there, in the midst of the celebration. And for what it’s worth, coming from a non-photographer, I love the colors and composition too. There is just something about them that seems to be really crisp and balanced. Kudos.