DAY 300

SOCIAL & POLITICAL COMMENTARY

The Vote

A TRAIL OF ENDLESS DRAMA

Let’s talk drama. Political campaigns are full of dramatic moments whether created on purpose, revealed during due diligence, or dredged up by the curiosity of the press. The fight for votes is preceded by campaigning, promises, photo opportunities, and revelations both political and personal. Images captured during the campaign, during the actual voting procedure, and through the counting process become visual commentary about the vote and about political power.

Images stay put long after votes have been counted, returning again and again to vex the winners and the losers, prove a point that didn’t exist at the time, or destroy a political career. Photographs add to and feed the ever-changing landscape the candidates operate in. One bad photograph and the political power could tip in the other direction.

According to U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut: “Look, over American history, we’ve always had spirited politics, particularly in election years. But for most of our history, that partisan political stuff usually ends for a while after elections. Nowadays, the campaigns never seem to end. That makes it very hard to get anything done.”¹ And so, photographing the vote appears to be an endless pursuit. —MLR