Yes They Did, I Was There

For the second time in four days, I photographed history, and had a great time while I was at it. A few weeks ago, when I heard Barack Obama was holding an election night rally in Chicago's Grant Park, I immediately knew I'd be attending with cameras in hand. After all, I'd be silly to stay at home and not photograph such a historic event on my home turf.

After spending the first part of Election Day cranking out lackluster photos of people casting ballots at a polling place, I jumped on the South Shore train and headed downtown. I decided that the train was my best option, since the city had major parking bans in place for most of the area near the park. Plus, whenever a large event like this happens in Chicago, you can count on a traffic jam of panic-attack inducing proportions.

The train proved to be a good idea from a photo standpoint as well, as the entire thing was filled with other Northwest Indiana residents headed to the rally. The paper I was shooting for, The Post-Tribune, specially asked me for images of Indiana residents. I'd made friends with a group from Hammond early on, and asked if I could hang out with them for a while on the train as well as when we arrived in Chicago. My favorite image came about halfway through the train ride, when a member of the group was juggling two cell phones to check election results, and shouting them out to the entire train car.

23-year-old Lela Thompson (center) of Hammond, Ind., juggles cell phones to keep track of election results as her mother Beverly Jefferson (right), also of Hammond, Tammi Meriel (left) of Gary, Ind., and friend Shacauntae Spencer (also of Gary), look on while riding the South Shore train to Chicago to attend the Barack Obama election night rally in Chicago's Grant Park.

Arriving downtown, I was immediately in awe of the amount of people that had come out. A sea of heads broken with the occasional floating American flag or Obama sign stretched far into the distance in almost all directions. I jumped right in and went with the flow down Congress Parkway, eventually ending up in the North end of Grant Park, where those without tickets to the official rally were being directed. While I had a credential to the rally, I wanted to check out this area first, as I knew there'd be lots of great energy. I wasn't let down.

A quick self-portrait in the mass of revelers filling Grant Park.

(From left) Ian Smith of Louisville, Ky., shares a tree in Chicago's Grant Park to get a better view of CNN on a large video screen with 16-year-old Shelley Brosnan, her brother Conor Brosnan, 14, and sister Nora Brosnan, 14, all of Park Ridge, Ill., during an election night rally for Barack Obama held in Grant Park in Chicago.

In several corners of the park, people jostled for the best view of several large LED video screens which displayed live CNN coverage of the election. Loudspeakers beamed audio of the broadcast throughout the park. Some people even climbed into trees for a better view. Each time a projection for a state was announced, the crowd would wildly cheer if Obama had won it, or loudly boo if it went to McCain. On Jackson Blvd., two of these LED video screens were set up at each end of the park, and thousands of people sat in the middle of the street, as if at home in their living rooms, glued to the unfolding election results.

(From left) Kyle Anderson, 22, of Chicago, watches a large video screen set up on Jackson Blvd. with Bryan Dowling, 25, of Fond Du Lac Wis., Jessica Alvarado, 20, Gerardo Galvin, 22, and Dan Levine, 22, all of Chicago, during an election night rally for Barack Obama held in Grant Park in Chicago.

When Obama's victory was announced, the positive mood and love in Grant Park was palpable. Strangers of all races danced and hugged each other. I even got a hug from an African-American woman with a hand full of American flags, who was in tears. I've never been in such a large mass of people and felt totally at ease and positive.

People celebrate in Chicago's Grant Park shortly after Obama's victory was announced. The woman to the right, Jackie Robinson of Dolton, Ill., hugged me as tears streamed down her face.

With Obama's victory speech nearing at the South end of the park, where the credential area was, I decided to hustle to that area to try and get a few images of the speech. From where I was (Jackson and Columbus), this meant an eight block walk with roughly thirty pounds of camera gear. I made it to the general media area just in time to get through security and set up for my view of other photographer's backs five-deep on 6 foot ladders!

While I was going through the security screening at the speech area, a Secret Service officer thoroughly screened ALL my gear, even snapping this photo with one of my cameras to verify that it actually was a camera.

If you had a general media credential, and you didn't remember to bring your newly-purchased Little Giant ladder, this was your view of Mr. Obama's speech.

The one image of Obama I did manage to get through a small opening in another riser, also blocking our view, is slightly soft because Obama is seen through bulletproof glass which flanked him on either side of the podium. Kind of like trying to photograph fish in a tank at a very oblique angle, they get distorted.

I was able to get one image of Obama through a small opening in another riser (the riser for photo outlets that paid over $1000 for access) which also blocked our view. Despite not having a clean image of Obama, I was happy to just be there and to be part of history. And, getting to see the media circus at a global event such as this was fun in and of itself. There were crews there from ALL across the world, and also a few local guys as well. I saw my friend Mark Sofil, a jib camera operator who I've used on several film shoots, at the rally with his rig. He was jib'bing for the national pool broadcast provided by ABC News. So, if you saw a shot of the rally on TV that looked like it was flying through the air, chances are it was Mark's.

Chicago-based jib operator (and a nice guy, too) Mark Sofil rocks his jib arm for ABC national news.

The celebration continues after Obama's speech.

Just as I was about to leave the park and head home, I saw 2 women sitting on one of the softball diamonds that dot the area of Grant Park where Obama's speech was held. They were bawling their eyes out and hugging each other, but they were smiling. These were happy tears over months of campaigning and emotions finally coming to and end. It really summed up the evening for me.

Lauren Slone (left) of Park Forest, Ill., embraces her sister Erin Slone following Barack Obama's presidential election night acceptance speech speech in Grant Park in Chicago.