The Long November

Fallout

The election is over.

Randex.org has picked up the Citizen-Times interview. At first, I'm honored. Ayn Rand's conception of art--the selective recreation of reality--mirrors my own. And then I wonder: Is this objective enough? Will this be seen as a political endorsement?

Art and politics do not mix, as much as some factions may try, and artists who attempt political change only alienate their audience.

So I squirm when ThunderPig labels me a "conservative blogger," or when the Xpress reviews my photos as "not-so-subtle political statements." I feel very uncomfortable when I'm seen at an event by other members of the media, and they ask who I'm shooting for, or when I'm asked at a gunshow if I'm a "commie liberal." I'm very careful, so very careful, to shoot each photo objectively, and to cultivate neutrality as a central element of my vision.

Eugene Smith once wrote that "subjectivity is not a crime." There was a time when I disagreed. These days, I'm not so sure. At some point, you have to stand for something.

The Day Itself

4Nov08: It is a beautiful day to be an American. I'm riding shotgun with Carl Mumpower to as many polling places as we can hit, lurching all over the county in what his campaign calls "The Mumpower Truck." It's a bright red late-80's Tacoma, outfitted with gigantic Mumpower-for-Congress signs, a stark contrast to Carl's refined countenance.



"It will be a miracle if we win," he tells me above the truck's grinding gears. He is right.

It's a miracle that I am here, that any of us are here. At some point during the day, I stop and take off my sunglasses to look at a tree set on fire in the bright fall sunlight. How many good people are dead, gone from this world where the sky is so blue it's impossible to photograph, so that Carl and I can do this today? There are places in the world where people risk this sight, place it within the reach of Death's arm, to cast their vote.

The campaign's work is brutal, and almost over. Mumpower and I are both running on only a few hours' sleep, crackers and bottled water. But I'm lucky; I'm just the photographer. We stop for lunch, and I eat while Carl is greeted by supporters. Between the restaurant and the truck, Carl has given out balloons to three little girls and talked with their families.

The things I've seen working for this campaign, taken all at once in the swift breath of memory, evidence a world I thought was gone before my time. You think you've missed it, that you were born too late for your difference to be made, but the photos are clear--honest Americana, and the Americans that create it. There are times when I can't believe I'm taking these pictures.

























One thing I've learned this year is that everyone loves balloons, but grown-ups hide it well. We park the truck outside of Mumpower's headquarters and start to unpack. As I reach into the bed for an armload of gear, Carl greets a young boy and his grandfather, and asks if they'd like a balloon. They would. I turn around and see that the boy and his grandfather are black. Forty years ago, they would not have been able to sit in a restaurant with Carl and me, and in a few hours, we will elect our first black president.

I make a mental note to mention that to my students, in whom I'm always trying to instill some sense of historical perspective. When I do, they respond, "Isn't it terrible that it took forty years?" Yes, it is. But now we have a country where a politician can casually offer a child a balloon, and neither of them thinks of the gulf that once would have been between them. At some point in the last 40 years, someone decided they weren't born too late to make a difference.



Quotes and Whispers

From a blog entry, after photographing a meeting of the UNCA Socialist Unity League, formerly the UNCA Marxist-Leninists, 16Feb2006:

"Are you with the Blue Banner?”

“No.”

And then the room got really quiet. He was afraid to ask why I was taking pictures, and I wasn’t going to offer an explanation. Because I didn’t have to. Because--and I mean this in the most literal way--photographing people in a public place is my God-given right.



Finally the girl who was leading the meeting stopped and said: “I’m sorry, who are you shooting pictures for?”

“No one. Just myself.”

“Well, who are you?”

“I’m just an independent photographer.”

“Oh. Well, okay. You know, with all the hate and oppression in our society, it just makes me nervous.”

I didn't know what to say to that, so I didn’t say anything at all. It’s not my job to make people feel comfortable.

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Photographer accused of voter intimidation:

"When Kathy Rhodarmer pointed her camera at residents of Canterbury Hills, an adult care home, the residents got nervous."

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Press from pro-McCain papers booted from Obama's plane:


"It would be wiser to resist the impulse to punish those who ask hard questions and wiser still to show more respect for the free exercise of the press."

---

"Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press . . ." 15Dec1791



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Well, I don't know what will happen now; we've got some difficult days ahead. (Amen) But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. (Yeah) [applause] And I don't mind. [applause continues] Like anybody, I would like to live a long life--longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. (Yeah) And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. (Go ahead) And I've looked over (Yes sir), and I've seen the Promised Land. (Go ahead) I may not get there with you. (Go ahead) But I want you to know tonight, (Yes) that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. [applause] (Go ahead. Go ahead) And so I'm happy tonight; I'm not worried about anything; I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. [applause]

-MLKjr, 3Apr1968

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"A more disturbing position taken by Obama, however, is his view - articulated on draftobama.org - that "I hope Congress gets to work right away on reestablishing the Fairness Doctrine with the FCC. There needs to be balance on the airwaves again on radio as well as TV and cable." The Fairness Doctrine, known officially as the Fairness in Broadcasting Act of 1993, essentially codifies a 1949 FCC mandate that broadcasters "afford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views of public importance." It was scuttled in 1987 because it had failed in its original intended purpose and ran afoul of the free speech protections of the First Amendment . . . Obama's supporters should advise him that any candidate for President who does not fully support a strict, literal application of the provisions of the U.S. Constitution is unfit to take the oath to uphold and defend them."

-Obama and free speech, Samuel Berkowitz, 7Feb2008

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"This is a list of books [Sarah] Palin tried to have banned."
-False internet rumor, Snopes.com




"1 Harry Potter [by] J.K. Rowling
4 Of Mice and Men [by] John Steinbeck
5 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings [by] Maya Angelou
11 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [by] Mark Twain
56 The Things They Carried [by] Tim O'Brien
72 Fahrenheit 451 [by] Ray Bradbury"

-Partial list of most banned books from 2000-2007, compiled by the ALA.

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"This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election," wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.

-Orlando Sentinel editorial on the Joe Biden interview with Barbara West.



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On McCain-Feingold: "In just a few months . . . bloggers and news organizations could risk the wrath of the federal government if they improperly link to a campaign's Web site. Even forwarding a political candidate's press release to a mailing list, depending on the details, could be punished by fines."

-The Coming Crackdown on Blogging, Declan McCullagh, CNet News, 3Mar05

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"It is forgotten that the medium was always malleable, that some of our most well-known photographs are forgeries, and that we trusted photographers like Rosenthal, Evans, Eisenstaedt, and Lange not because the technology wouldn't allow them to lie, but because they were honest journalists." -On Lies and Pricing, artist's statement for The District

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"I have here in my hand a list . . ."
-Sen. Joseph McCarty, in a Lincoln Day speech to the Republican Women's Club of Wheeling, West Virginia.

"Let the truth be the prejudice."

They say F8 and be there. "There" is a hard place to find, unless you know your way.

I teach my students that the noblest aspect of journalism is objectivity, but I may be wrong. In this election, we've seen the press lose any pretense of objectivity, and I hear conservative pundits bemoaning this as the end of an era of journalism. Those of us aware of photography's history know that this is not true: There never was such an era.

It is not that our novel digital age has corrupted the media: It has revealed its corruption. To believe that bias was not present before Rathergate, or Chris Matthews' tingling leg, or Rupert Murdoch, is to believe in human infallibility. It never was, it never will be.

The unprecedented human communication in the digital age is the next step in a disillusionment begun by photography, radio, and television. When the people can educate themselves, the media is revealed for what it is--generally a positive force, requisite for the health of a free state, but sometimes an agent of control.

So where does that leave an intrepid photographer, an idealistic young photojournalist, who wonders if the age of the camera's authenticity has passed?

I wrote this in a post announcing the Declare Arms project: "But the public is more aware than ever that the mass media’s objectivity is a cheap sham, and more able than ever to think for themselves. As digital technology has enabled photographers to work more independently, so has it enabled to the public to think more independently."

I can no longer look at the work of Rosenthal, Evans, Eisenstaedt, and Lange, and believe they shot without prejudice, because I myself cannot shoot without prejudice. It is that prejudice, that empathy and engagement with the subject, that makes photography resonate. The challenge, and the burden, is as Smith says it is: To let the truth be the prejudice.

Returns

After the polls close, I walk into Mumpower's office with a Citizen-Times photographer. Exactly a year ago, I interviewed for the position that this photographer now fills--I was turned down because I could not leave my teaching position until the end of the semester. I've spent the last year regretting it.

We step into the elevator together, talking about the latest Nikon gear, the gigantic instruments around our necks. It's hard for me not to resent him--we all pay our dues, but he at least is accruing equity. Then the elevator door opens, and there is an eerie hush. No sound comes from the campaign office. If it is that quiet, I think, the news must be very bad.

It is very bad, but that's not why it's quiet. Mumpower is speaking very softly, and the entire packed office is holding hands. It's not a prayer, it's an expression of gratitude. The office is full of volunteers, because there is no paid campaign staff--the only person in the room who is paid to be there is the Citizen-Times photographer.

He moves through the hush and begins shooting. I do not. This is my moment, too.

The returns are dismal. By nine o'clock, Mumpower is down 25%, and the GOP calls to tell him not to concede. It's a final illustration of how poorly the Party understands the Mumpower campaign: No matter the numbers, there will be no concession.

Other media outlets flood in as the race closes. Mumpower is called into the hall for interviews. The Citizen-Times photographer gets his shots and leaves. I wander through the crowd, but the photos just aren't there, so I follow the light from the TV cameras. Off the record, a member of the media is the telling Carl how much they respect him for his steadfastness and dedication to the truth. The reporter sees me with my camera, and asks me not to repeat what has been said.

Sometimes objectivity means hearing the truth and not repeating it. But the truth needs no warrant for being, no word of sanction upon its being, and no counterpoint to make it fair. Looking back on the last year, I am glad the Lord works in mysterious ways.

I don't know what weight any of this carries. I don't understand the importance of these moments, any more than I can understand the importance of being able to sit where you please, cast your ballot as you please, or take the pictures you please. Few of us can understand; We have been led to the Promised Land by those who did not make it themselves. But I know that somehow, taken together, these things amount to actual, living, breathing Liberty. And we are more blessed than we will ever know.