Random Excellence: The Best of Barack

Emmanuel Dunand, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Illinois Senator Barack Obama disembarks from his campaign plane at Midway airport in Chicago, Illinois, October 19, 2008 (AFP/Getty Images).

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Few extended events are covered as thoroughly as U.S. Presidential campaigns, as news organizations from all over the world ask photojournalists to come back with unique and expressive photographs from heavily covered, repetitive opportunities. Boston.com has gathered 35 of the best photographs of President-Elect Barack Obama from the campaign of 2008.

The photographers in this set are Jim Young, Chris Carlson, Emmanuel Dunand, Alex Brandon, Stan Honda, Jae C. Hong, Doug Mills, Jason Reed, Yoon S. Byun, Joe Raedle, Jeff Fusco, and Pouya Dianat.

Jae C. Hong, Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama (lower right) waves as he arrives at a rally of 100,000 supporters in St. Louis, Mo., Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008 (AP Photo).

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Mike  (Thanks to Adam McA.)

Featured Comment by Bill Bresler: "Nice gallery. I've photographed nearly every presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan. Every time I've done so, I've had a gut feeling about the candidate. History tells me that I need to listen to my gut. I photographed Barack Obama in early September. If my gut reaction is still accurate, this guy is the real deal.

"Here's my favorite from that campaign rally. I couldn't help but notice these pauses, before he would continue speaking.

"I had the same gut reaction to John McCain in 2000, but eight years later, it was gone."

Comments

[Ken White]

The first image definitely encourages a feel good warn glow. The second looks very like photos taken of Castro speeches by Raúl Corrales. The crowd conferring power upon the political leader to guide them into the future. Maybe a little bit scary.

[charlie]

Certainly some good pics in there. Especially Obama going to the hoop!

Here is an excellent set I found just last night.

http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0810/callie-bp.html

[Bruno Trematore]

The first picture is nice, but resembles a lot a photo of George W. Bush jr. done by Christopher Morris and included in My America.

The "feeling" of the two images is very different, the one of Mr. Morris giving more a sense of isolation and "smallness" of the man who is called Mr. President (at least, this is my subjective feeling about it).

The photo of Obama copies the same structure in terms of composition, with a Windows backdrop on it.

Now, I've spent some time searching for the other picture, but I just can't find it! Maybe it wasn't from Christopher Morris, but Ron Haviv or Christopher Anderson, or maybe I'm getting old.

[Seinberg]

Funny, the Believe sign behind Barack. It looks just like the faux-improvements here in Baltimore: put up lots of signs all over the city that say "Believe", but continue to underfund programs that actually help the people "Believe" is aimed towards.

There's a lot of cynicism surrounding that word in this city nowadays, and there are lots of joking (and serious, to be fair) spin-offs of the word now too. e.g. "Believe...in what?" "B'leeve, Hon!" "I Be-leavin'" etc.

I support Barack and hope the cynicism surrounding that word isn't an ironic twist in his presidency as it turned out in Baltimore!

- Seinberg

p.s. some links, in case anybody is interested:
http://www.baltimorechronicle.com/believe_jul02.shtml

http://www.the-spark.net/np681602.html

and a great sign of an already-decaying "Believe" sign:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bill_angel/192625862/

[Bahi]

An interesting set. The trend toward displaying bigger photographs online is so very welcome. I hope it persists. What the Boston Globe's Big Picture started, others are imitating, and we all benefit.

For the Obama campaign, I was particularly fond of Scout Tufankjian's pictures. She had great access and used it beautifully.

http://www.scouttufankjian.com

Looks like she has a book on the way. I'll be getting a copy.

http://www.amazon.com/Yes-We-Can-History-Making-Presidential/dp/1576875040

[Edward Taylor]

I had the opportunity to see Barack Obama before he had the nomination. I was waiting in a mile long line and was limping along because, at the time, I had torn some cartilage in my knee. An Obama staffer noticed my limp and offered to assist me. He said he had been instructed to pull anyone with problems walking out of the line and seat them right in front. Indeed, there was an area right in front of Obama’s podium populated only with people with various disabilities. I refused the special attention and ended up sitting behind Obama in the bleachers; but I thought it was symbolic of the kind of leader he might be. Caring for people and helping those who need it most – what an incredible change of attitude from the nightmare we have lived through for the past decade.
I did get some decent “snap shot” photos from a distance and videotaped his speech. If anyone ever needs a good shot of the back of his head, I have it.

[Kurt]

Some good shots, the one in the rain is good. The one with his reflection could be used by the opposition - he looks small and weak in that shot. I think people's excitment over the election is clouding their judgement. Interesting compare on the shot of BHO going down the jetway stairs. Same shot of GWB was done but it was black and white and made GWB look small. The color in this shot completely changes it. The press is in the tank for Obama. The photographers are also. Unfortunately they have lost their objectivity - you would never have seen 30 great shots of GWB or McCain for that matter.

[Jeff Glass]

Um, Ken White:
In a democracy, crowds always confer power on their leader. It's called voting. Something Castro did away with. I don't believe Obama has any such tendencies.

Kurt:
To say "the press is in the tank for Obama," to my mind, is merely a result of the fact that McCain was the guy who generated constant bad news for himself, while Obama did not. No one should take the blame for McCain's bad press except McCain, and to a lesser extent his running mate.

And let's face it Obama is, on the most surface level, much more "photogenic" than McCain or Bush.

Don't be afraid. Be happy! (at least for now).

[jcyrai]

I like Callie Shell and Scout's images (which charlie linked earlier) because their access gives their photographs that intimacy.

Bruce Ely at The Oregonian also has some great photographs that show Barack's more thoughtful side (search for pl.obama_1203_5-18-08.jpg).

And Damon Winters' work is just phenomenal. I'm really surprised the Globe did not include a single image of his (or the other photogs I mentioned) on that list.. probably usage/rights issues.

[Ken White]

Jeff Glass: "In a democracy, crowds always confer power on their leader. It's called voting. Something Castro did away with. I don't believe Obama has any such tendencies."

I was referring to the composition of the the photograph and the intent of Mr. Corrales. But since you mention it, crowds follow a dynamic that has nothing at all to do with democracy, dictatorship or voting. The tendencies of Mr. Obama have nothing to do with the nature or behavior of crowds. I thought that should be obvious given the behavior of crowds in recent years in democratic and not so democratic countries.

[John Clifford]

I'm not nearly the pro that Mr. Bresler is, but I would ask him to comment on his initial impression of Bill Clinton compared to his current impression.

Re McCain, I did photograph him (as an amateur) during this campaign, and I believe the conventional wisdom about him is as wrong as it is about Obama. I think McCain is a decent person who was confounded by the idea that people would even consider choosing Obama over him, based upon their qualifications. I think Obama is a decent person who ran to prepare for the 2012 election, and found himself elected president by a country that was sick and tired of the partisanship and desparate for something different than the leadership of the last 16 years... and I think he's doing a lot of praying and soul-searching as he realizes the seriousness of being president. I hope he doesn't fall into the trap of bowing to the 'experts' of his party, because they will ruin him and his presidency.