the heart swells

Above are photographs taken by Damon Winter, Staff Photographer at The New York Times, as he followed Obama from the primaries to his victory. These here are my favorites as they really capture America's love and fascination for Obama. It really makes the heart swell that tiny children and a group of high school teenagers in PE class are as enthused as if their favorite action hero or musician pulled up in a limo and yet they are not old enough to even vote. They could do nothing in the election but stretch their freedom of speech and yet they want to shake Obama's hand or see his poised wave before stepping back to play kickball. When speaking of his photographs, Winter brings to attention how Obama has such a distinctive profile and figure that he can be shot in nearly any light and one would still recognize him immediately however he is not the most emotive of candidates. Obama is emotive but when compared with shots of Hillary and McCain one realizes that he doesn't have to scream or flail for attention the way the others have. He quite simply says what he means. Clearly we are in a historic shift and for many Americans (including myself) this election symbolizes a new hope. Non-Democrats voted Democrat this year and often times not even just because of a party shift but some simply wanted someone in office that they believed they could trust. In this last photo of Obama speaking at a rally, the image would immediately suggest a makeshift gospel service were Obama's figure not so distinctive as Winter addressed. I can even imagine his face as he speaks on the other side because Obama consistently evokes a collective calm and confidence, two things missing in our rattled America. His one arm raised hallelujahs are not bellowed as those of Martin Luther King, Jr. but are felt with the same ardor electrified because he has changed the possibility of how we imagine the future. 

You can hear Damon Winter discuss these and other photographs from his coverage of the campaign trail at http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/08/27/us/politics/20080827-winterobama-multimedia/index.html.