Announcing a Lawsuit

A press conference was held at the law offices of Devine Millimet in Concord regarding a a class action lawsuit being filed against the state of New Hampshire for, the lawsuit says, failure to provide adequate mental health services to state citizens with mental illness. Six state residents are plaintiffs in the case, all of whom are or have been institutionalized at a state-run psychiatric  institution.

Lively Still

Securing Romney's Spaghetti Dinner

Waiting for Newt

A campaign worker waits for Newt Gingrich at a Republican headquarters in Littleton, New Hampshire. Gingrich was scheduled for a radio show.

The Production of Politics

From an event hosted by Gov. Rick Perry, of Texas, at a VFW hall in Nashua, NH.

Behind the scenes

Behind the scenes with Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. I'm still digging through folders upon folders of primary stuff to come up with an edit. I'll post some as I go.

Sunrise on the Blocks

Early morning walk.

More to come soon...

I haven't posted here in quite some time. I was swamped (in a fantastic way) covering the New Hampshire primaries and for about a week before January 10 voting date, I was doing little more than shooting all day, transmitting, posting to the Concord Monitor's Primary Circus blog, and trying to get at least a few hours of sleep before doing it again.

Being out everyday covering the primary, with a phenomenal staff of passionate reporters and fellow photo staffer Andrea Morales, has been a highlight of my time here in Concord. Each morning began as each night ended, reading the newest email from the campaigns, searching Politico's candidate calendar, and coming up with a strategy how to hit as many events as possible while still allowing time to scope out locations and stick around after the candidates left. It was a week of being extremely productive and taking initiative so I didn't look back with regret when it was all over.

Getting caught in the scrum and excitement of it all was a positive experience, but was also a threat to making different images and thinking about what the images were saying...something I am still working on. There are only so many photos of a candidate surrounded by a mob of media that I could take.

The photo below was made while driving back roads checking out voting stations throughout central New Hampshire on the day of the primary. What also made that week amazing was housing a few talented shooters in my one-room apartment. We became close very quickly. As a few of us toured the back towns to find voters filling out ballots, we came across a cemetery with markers dating back to the early 1800s. Curious and having a few minutes to spare, we hopped out of the car. Greeting us out of nowhere came two Huskies.

As I go through the work from the primary, I'll be posting them here as much as possible. If you're bored, you should also check out the Monitor's Primary Circus photo blog, linked to earlier in this post.

Romney Tours NH

Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, began a bus tour starting Tuesday night/Wednesday morning in western New Hampshire. It's really the first time I've seen Romney working 'the New Hampshire way' of being close to the voters and putting himself out there. I've been on the late shift this week but figured waking up and navigating icy roads with fellow staffer and a reporter was worth it. On each of these events I challenge myself to look beyond what is given to the media as a photo op and try to get something telling of the candidates or the event. A lot of times it means when everyone is going in the front door through the campaign staff, you find a back door through a kitchen where a chef is getting ready for the day. It means being nice to everyone. And it means thinking on your own and taking risks that break the rules, but not having a sense of entitlement and knowing your boundaries.