2012 Democratic National Convention

I was lucky enough to attend and photograph the 2012 DNC in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Before my job began, I walked around downtown taking in the scene.  One of my favorite memories from the Convention was watching the Clayton County (Georgia) police officers direct traffic!  Let me start the description by explaining that security on scene was EVERYWHERE.  From snipers on rooftops, to helicopters,  road blocks and barriers, FBI, secret service, TSA, and law enforcement from several states….and that’s just some of them!  They all have a job to do, most don’t talk with one another (ie – one officer can tell you it’s ok to walk in a certain direction, and 30 seconds later you could be yelled at by another…).  So in general, people are walking long distances in the humidity, going through long security lines, and overall, grouchy and grumpy…  Long story short, these men from Clayton County weren’t thrilled with their assignment of traffic duty, but they decided to make the most of it and began to have a lot of fun.  They danced, high-fived, blew their whistles, gave autographs and stopped traffic both figuratively and literally with their good-natured humor, fantastic attitudes and truly brought smiles to peoples faces!

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) was my client.  Chaired by Madeleine Albright, NDI is “a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.”  They hosted hundreds of foreign leaders who were eager to learn and experience American politics.  Here is my favorite image of Albright and a picture of John Kerry speaking at a luncheon (many other images I took from panels and events throughout the week can be found on NDI’s webpage:  http://www.ndi.org/)

Like many, I was disappointed when the final night was moved indoors (due to weather), but was still happy to be there to experience the event and snap some photos!  There were a lot of people WITH tickets that were not allowed in once the arena was filled! I overheard a radio asking for backup law enforcement at each entrance to help block the doors!  The first image below is of Grammy winning singer, Mary J. Blige performing.  Below that was a neat moment when Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords waved to the crowd and helped start the Pledge of Allegiance (DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz helped Giffords walk out and back) :

  Here are some of my favorites of President Obama formally accepting the re-election nomination and giving his speech:

I feel so lucky to have been able to attend and photograph BOTH the 2012 Republican National Convention AND the 2012 Democratic National Conventions.  From the crowds, to the security, to the speeches, to the weather and of course the politics… there so many ways I could compare the two; but instead, I’m going to choose to focus on the incredibly amazing opportunity I had to witness a real historic moment in United States history.  I know it’s borderline cheesy to write, but after photographing hundreds of internationals during the DNC (some from countries without democracy), it sank in how truly remarkable it is to live in a country where people can have such opposite views, be able to not only share them, but shout them from the top of their lungs, AND, after doing so, still be free, safe and have the opportunity to be or do anything we set our minds to.

Thanks for checking out the photos!