Five Photos That Cinched the Election for Barack

We took an informal survey of the PDN staff to determine our picks for the most influential still photographs of the 2008 election. Below are our top five, plus some runners up. What do you think? Your comments are welcome.

5. Barack, Rock Star

Rolling Stone published this Peter Yang portrait without type on its July 10-24 cover. That was back when the magazine was still printed on oversize paper, which made the impact even stronger. Obama’s popularity among young people (such as Rolling Stone readers) was key to his election victories, especially his ability to channel their enthusiasm into fund-raising, outreach and actual votes.

4. Barack in Iraq

On July 21, Barack Obama joined Republican Senator Chuck Hagel for a helicopter flight over Baghdad with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq. The photographs – shot by Staff Sgt. Lorie Jewell for the Army and provided as handouts to the press – were widely published. Obama, looking relaxed, confident and in charge, suddenly seemed plausible as commander-in-chief.

3. The Palin Factor

It's not just the goofy "you-betcha!" smile. The impact of this cover was its timing. On September 2 – just three days after Sarah Palin emerged as John McCain’s running mate – US Weekly released this cover. US placed the word SCANDAL over a file photo of Palin and her newborn infant Trig, who has Down syndrome. As the political press cautiously tried to figure out what to do with this unknown politician from Alaska, the entertainment press smelled fresh blood – baby or no baby. Tina Fey would soon eviscerate Palin on Saturday Night Live, but US was the first shark to attack. This treatment provoked outrage from conservative readers at the time. But now, as the Republican party sorts out what it did wrong this election, exit polls show Palin was a significant influence on voters who ultimately chose Obama. (By the way, US Weekly and Rolling Stone are both published by Wenner Media.)

2. The Crowd

When 72,000 people attended at a May 18 Obama rally in Portland, Oregon, still pictures told the story best. Images of this crowd energized Obama's supporters and helped convince undecided primary voters that he was a viable general election candidate. Many press photographers captured shots similar to this one, by Bruce Ely of The Oregonian.

1. Kareem's Mother

This heartbreaking picture, shot by Platon for a photo essay published by The New Yorker, shows the grieving mother of a Muslim American soldier who died in Iraq. It is not exactly a political photograph, nor did it make news when it was published, but it spoke in an understated way about the diverse makeup of America. When Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Obama, he said, “I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine." It was this photo.

Runners up:

Photographer Charles Ommanney contributed to the religious imagery of Obama with this June 2 Newsweek cover.

Platon’s Obama-in-charge portraits ran on the covers of Time ("The Contender") and Esquire ("Ready Set Obama").

Callie Shell’s photo in Time of Obama’s worn-out shoes in March 2008 recalled a famous political photograph of Adlai Stevenson. Michael Shaw used this photo to compare the candidates' shoes here on The Huffington Post. (An essay of Shell's photos is viewable on the Digital Journalist Web site.)

Jim Bourg of Reuters shot this photo of John McCain making a silly face during the third and final debate. We saw it everywhere from blogs to a flier in our local bar advertising an election night party.

Palin was hurt, not helped, by the stiff, stage-y photos of her meeting foreign leaders in September, such as this shot by Stan Honda of AFP/Getty Images showing Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The unopened container of treats on the table makes the whole scene even more ridiculous.

Comments

[JamesW]

My candidate for most influential image is not a photograph, but rather Shepard Fairey's now-iconic red, white and blue Obama graphic portrait used in the "Hope," "Progress," "Change" campaign. I would dare say that it's one of the most influential images in my lifetime and branded a man with an image that became a viral life force.

[Jeff Greenberg]

This is the photo that clinched the loss for McCain:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1008/Acorn_pushes_back_hugs_McCain.html?showall

[TravisM]

I saw this image off the AP wire and then posted here on a photo blog. The woman's face says it all as far as I am concerned.

http://www.the37thframe.org/?p=526

Image takes a few seconds to load.

[Steven Rood]

Sorry

But none of the five images featuring Obama come close to the work done by Damon Winters for the NY Times. A slideshow of the work can be see here -

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/08/27/us/politics/20080827-winterobama-mutimedia/index.html

[Lisa Marie Albert]

I shot this slide show at a town Hall Meeting in Raleigh, NC as a photographer for the Daily Tar Heel, a local Chapel Hill, NC paper. I personally love the first shot, his demeanor radiates.... and the shot of him making fun of McCain's "Right Here Right Now" saying... I think my favorite part of the photo is his finger framed by the star of the flag. I'd love to hear any feedback on these images...

http://www.dailytarheel.com/multimedia/slideshows/slideshow_obama_town_hall

I plan on adding some of those Obama shots to my website soon. www.lisamariealbert.com Thanks for any visits.

As for the shots PDN chose, I do like the Rolling Stones cover. The one shown here is much better than a recent Rolling Stones magazine I received a few weeks ago... maybe the Nov. issue? It had a shallow depth of field, and used a wide angle lens... made him look very Bill Cosby-ish. I wasn't a fan. It would be great to see who else has personal or unpublished shots of Obama they are proud of...

[Bill Eppridge]

You have got to be kidding.
Bill Eppridge

[Holly Hughes]

Dear Mr. Eppridge,
Kidding about what? Are you referring to the selection of 5 photos, or one of hte later comments?
Can you suggest some influential photos from this campaign? Please tell us!

The Editors

[Danny]

I'm surprised at the lack of credit for the photographers, especially since this is a photography website.

[Daryl Lang]

Danny: Out of 10 photographs, we credited nine photographers. The only exception was the US Weekly Palin cover,just because the image is packaged as part of a magazine cover with no credit line on it, and I couldn't determine who shot that photo.

[Bettina Hansen]

I second Steven's comment. These pale in comparison to Damon Winters' shots. He is the man.

[Russell Kaye]

I have to agree with Bill - I think you're reaching for an article here.

[Charisse Fair]

Thanks for the pics. They are ALL good. Just can't get enough him!

[Matt Lutton]

Hey Daryl -- did you guys have anything to do with the MSNBC segment that was just on talking about important photos from the campaign? I looked up and saw it late, when they were already talking about the Platon shot, and didn't hear the lead-in or if they mentioned where they got their list of photos .. but the ones they showed were exactly the ones (in the top five list) that you have here. Seems an odd coincidence .. was about to post about this but thought I would see if you had any news about it (or if you were even aware of this piece ... it happened live 15min ago and i don't think it is online yet)

[Matt Lutton]

Ok just saw a replay of it on MSNBC, it was part of Hardball with Chris Matthews (still haven't found it online), and they cite at the top that 'these pictures were picked by editors at Photo District News'. A couple of interesting things were said in the segment if anyone wants to check it out

[Wendy]

The photos here of Obama are great, personally I feel that they show an element of honesty which all politician need.

[Bill Eppridge]

Holly & Editors,
I am commenting on your selection of photographs. As for influential pictures, just go back day by day through the NYTimes and The Washington Post.
Here is one NYT site:
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/flash/politics/2008_PHOTOJOURNAL_CAMPAIGNTRAIL/?hp
And this is just one day of The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/photos/index.html
Bill Eppridge

[Lisa Marie Albert]

I checked out Damon Winter's photographs, and they are very nice. And I do think they are more piercing than the ones PDN chose. Damon said he took tens and thousands of photographs of Obama on the campaign trail...what an opportunity.

The photograph by Charles Ommanney above, with the light shining behind Obama is very nice.... and similar, though not completely silhouetted, to Damon Winter's in the slide show referenced above. I'm surprised, however, that the Ommanney photograph was a runner up. I do believe there are many other amazing photographs out there of Obama, and this campaign. How did PDN go about choosing these?

[Paul Murray]

Here's a fun game to play. The rolling stone cover of Obama and the US week cover of Palin, cover up the top half and the bottom half of their faces. In one, the eyes and the mouth tell a consistent story. In the other, they don't.

Creepy.

[Sjphoto]

thanks for good pictures

[Scott]

I absolutely love this AP photo taken by Chris Carlson:
http://www.daylife.com/photo/0e1w7endjAg1R/obama_farmington_hills

From the sheer joy of the child, to the pride of the boy's father, and Obama's ability to let a moment happen without mugging for the cameras, shows me what a great leader we have in Obama.

There is a blog out there featuring this photo and others like it here: http://yeswecanholdbabies.wordpress.com/

[wil matthews]

Callie Shell's complete work on this election towers over the other selections, as far as covering the candidate is concerned. Sure, The Post and NYT have had the always-excellent coverage of the election, but as far as capturing the candidate, her talent, access and familiarity with the subject trump all.
I look forward to seeing her as the White House photographer to the President.

[Matt Lutton]

For those curious, PDN found the transcript of the MSNBC show talking about the pictures ... http://tinyurl.com/6cs7s2

[Sara]

I think Damon Winter's campaign photos for the NY Times are amazing.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/08/27/us/politics/20080827-winterobama-mutimedia/index.html?scp=7&sq=obama%20campaign%20photographs&st=cse

What are not so great, the "behind the scenes" images by David Katz. Great moments, but they are dark, flat and yellow/green cast...otherwise.... unprocessed and look horrible, IMO.

http://flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom/sets/72157608716313371/

Even a quick batch process into B/W and level bump would have made these images so much more striking and enjoyable.

[Armando Solares]

I really like the Rolling Stone cover and I also like what Damon Winter shot for the New York Times. I too was able to shoot Mr. Obama when he came to Florida. Once in Sarasota and twice in Tampa. I also decided that I wanted to be in Grant Park, Chicago, the day of the election. I bought a plane ticket the night before the election. I got to Chicago the day of the election and I managed to photograph the night's celebration.
Please visit: www.solaresphotography.com - 2008 Presidential Election
I would love to hear your comments. Thanks.

[Tim Graner]

It might be the calmest photo taken on election night, but I really liked Matt Mendelsohn's photo of the tiny group listening to Barack Obama's speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial:

http://www.mattmendelsohn.net/matt-mendelsohns-dark-slide/2008/11/6/update-on-lincoln-memorial-photo.html

[Joel]

Rather than singling out individual photos, it would be more realistic to thank (or blame) the enormous bias of the mass media, which spiked important stories, played up every possible pro-Obama angle, smeared Palin at every opportunity, lied outright throughout, and in every way acted as part of Obama's campaign. The visual smearing was especially noticeable in the L.A. Times when Clinton was vying for the Demo nomination. The Times chose photos depicting Clinton as a crazed moron, while selecting only the most "presidential" looking photos of Obama.