I find great joy in portraiture. The human interaction while making a portrait leaves me with the deep satisfaction that one can receive through collaboration—even though some sittings happen at a whirlwind pace.
I first photographed Senator Barack Obama on March 5th, 2008 in San Antonio on the morning after the Texas Presidential Primary, which he lost to Senator Hillary Clinton. I had been commissioned by TIME Magazine to shoot a cover portrait of him.
When making someone’s portrait, the real time lies in the prep and set-up. Once the advance work is done, making the photograph can sometimes seem like a formality, as setting the lighting and determining the environment is the lion’s share of the work. We were given twenty minutes with him. It was smooth and uneventful. He was very kind to my 13 year old son Dylan. I was impressed by that.
