The RNC: Day 2

“The streets are very quiet.”

The text from my photographer friend came in at 10:30 AM.

Neither of us had heard any word or could find any information about anything going on during Day 2 of the RNC. But surely there was something, right?

Before I got here, I had assume I would take public transportation to the convention area, thinking having a car would be a serious hinderance. But since I found an empty parking lot that cost $10 for the day, I figured I could park there again.

I got to downtown at about noon. And dang. My parking lot now had a sign out front: $30 event parking. I didn’t want to do that. I drove around the block to find a place to pull over to look on my phone for parkiing, but lucky me! I found a 10 hour parking meter that would cost $5. Bingo!

The area was completely deserted.

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The RNC: Day 1

I never expected to be in Milwaukee for the RNC, but here I am. I always planed on photographing the DNC since it is taking place in Chicago. My feeling is that the DNC is going to be ugly, based on the rhetoric in Chicago, based on the anger at the city’s handling of the whole thing, and based on the large protest culture currently on the ground. So thinking about thrusting myself into the middle of it all made me just a bit nervous. My solution was to come to the RNC so that I would have a better idea how things might go. 

I dropped my dog Captain off at my daughter’s and drove the hour and a half to Milwaukee on Monday morning. The March on the RNC planned a press conference at 10, a rally at 11, and a march at noon. I had been approved for a press pass, so I needed to pick that up at 9. I left Chicago early enough to arrive by 8 because I had no idea what the city would look like in terms of blocked off streets and parking. 

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Election 2024: traveling to the RNC and the DNC

What started as a single exercise to get me out of my comfort zone has grown into a regular gig photographing protests here in Chicago. Over the past two years, I have improved my skills dramatically, I have found the courage to photograph people unapologetically, I have claimed the authority to record what is going on out in the streets, I have befriended a handful of photographers who are doing the same thing as I am, and I have learned a LOT about people, politics, and propaganda.

We are about to embark on what is likely to be a crazy timeline to be living through (as if the past four + years haven’t already been insane!) as we count down the days to the 2024 presidential election.

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