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Beyond Black and Whte by Mark Lapin With the sponsorship by HP and Nikon, photographer John Beebe created an historic gallery of portraits at a transformative moment in American race relations Article rating: 9.06

To capture the human face of a watershed moment in American history, portrait photographer John Beebe constructed a tiny oasis of calm in the controlled chaos of the Democratic National Convention in Denver.  The oasis was a small mobile studio, sealed off from the hubbub on the convention floor by black felt walls, and hooked up to an arsenal of high-tech gear that enabled Beebe’s crew to capture an individual portrait every 15 minutes and produce a huge 2’x3’ print every half hour.  The resulting portraits document the movers and shakers as well as the anonymous foot-soldiers who transformed our nation’s racial and political landscape by nominating the first black presidential candidate of a major American party. 

‘I knew Denver was going to be an historical moment, and I wanted to be a part of it,’ says Beebe.  ‘Obama has changed the way we see ourselves as Americans and changed the dialog around race in profound ways we don't fully understand yet.  My challenge as a photographer was to create portraits that go beyond demographic categories (working-class or wealthy, old or young, male or female, white or African American) and allow the viewer to engage the subjects as individuals, to see the faces of the people who are creating this historic moment of change.’

Inspired by Avedon and Penn
Many elements had to fall into place for Beebe’s concept to succeed.  Among those elements were a rich photographic tradition, an enterprising and uniquely qualified individual, a receptive hierarchy, an ingenious workflow, and generous sponsors. 

In creating his on-site studio, Beebe was inspired by great photographers like Irving Penn and Richard Avedon who had traveled all over the world capturing timeless portraits of people in mobile-studio settings.  ‘There was a wonderful tradition behind me,’ says Beebe.  ‘But some of the folks Penn captured never had a chance to interact with their images.  The new piece that we added was printing on location.  We had the ability to create a virtually instant exhibition of images, which gave the added dynamic of people interacting with their own portraits.’

HP Steps up to the Plate
The primary sponsors for Beebe’s work at the convention were HP and Nikon.  ‘They really stepped up to the plate to make this possible,’ he says.  ‘HP provided the large-format printer (the DesignJet Z3100) as well as all the media.  It was a huge commitment on their part.  I had the printer running 12 – 14 hours a day.  It really made a complex challenge much simpler.  The Nikon D3 consistently produced incredibly high quality images.  When Irving Penn was shooting, he faced a lot of technological issues.  We were very fortunate in not having to worry about technology.  We could just concentrate on the creative process, which shows how far we’ve come in this digital age.’

One of the most surprising aspects of the project is the way Beebe was able to secure a spot on the crowded convention floor despite the fact that he is not a prominent photographer with big-time media connections.  Quite to the contrary, Beebe is an ex-congressional staffer and high-school history teacher who only recently left the classroom to move to Toronto and embark on a full-time photography career. 

Non-traditional Path and Careful Preparation
‘I’ve taken a very non-traditional path into photography,’ he concedes.  ‘Just out of graduate school, I worked for a member of Congress from Maine and was his chief of staff when he ran (unsuccessfully) for the US Senate in 1994.  After that, I taught high-school history for number of years, which I loved doing.  A good teacher is going to find the best in every student, even those kids who are a little more challenging.  And it’s the same way with portrait work.  I'm looking to find what's interesting and unique about the person in front of me, to engage them quickly, and reveal something true about who they are.  One photograph is never going to create a complete picture of anyone.  But if you can get an authentic piece of that person, then you succeed.’

Although he does not have a long career in photography, Beebe did not come charging into the convention unprepared.  While Hillary and Barack were still waging their epic battle for the Democratic nomination, he was refining his mobile-studio, instant-exhibition technique on the streets of Toronto.  During the Contact Photography Festival in May, 2008, Beebe and his assistants set up mobile studios on five Toronto streets.  ‘We shot tethered into a computer, did a quick edit, printed on location, and hung 13x17” images right on the side of the studio.  HP sponsored us.  With the technology available today, you can print right on the spot with such high quality that people are blown away by the results.’

Precious Piece of Real Estate
When he had his process down pat, Beebe approached the organizers of the Democratic convention.  By that time, all the traditional routes into the convention had long since been clogged by other photographers with better media connections.  But Beebe pitched directly to the head of communications for the convention, and in striking contrast to the current trend of political events, he received a swift and positive response. ‘I described our concept of documenting the richness of the group of people who would be there and who would speak to the richness of the party,’ Beebe says.  ‘And they immediately jumped on the idea.  It turns out they had a lot of people doing video but they hadn't actually identified someone for still images.  So they were glad to have someone step up to fill that piece.’

The powers that be gave Beebe a precious piece of real estate—a 20 x 20 spot in the heart of the Convention Center, where the party held caucuses, meetings and press briefings.  (The prime-time events, including Obama’s acceptance speech, were staged at the Pepsi Center a few blocks away.)   Beebe’s booth housed the only independent arts project at the convention and occupied a larger footprint than such prominent corporate sponsors as Google, Qwest, GM and UPS.  ‘Having that space allowed us do two things,’ says Beebe.  First, we could pre-book celebrities and senior party folks who were already in the area so was easy for them to step into the booth; and second, in a much more serendipitous way, we were able to capture the real people, the volunteers, students, teachers and others who make up the core of the party.’ 

A Space of Trust and Connection
Knowing that he would have only fifteen minutes to photograph each individual in the fast-paced convention environment, Beebe designed his process to put people at ease and establish an instant connection.  When people entered the booth, assistants offered light refreshments and asked them to sign a Wacom tablet to create a digital signature to accompany their portrait.  Then Beebe appeared to usher the subject into the studio.  ‘We built the studio to work as a lighting scenario, but also to create a private environment within a very, very public space,’ he says.  ‘Once you were in there, it was just you and me.   You couldn't see my assistants, or the any of the hubbub on the floor.  I did that to help relax people.  We had to very quickly get into a space of trusting and connection to allow the portraits to emerge.’

To create that trust and connection, Beebe began each portrait session by asking the subject to describe their earliest political memory.  ‘‘I was asking the question to create an emotional space for the image, to take people out of the instant, sound-bite world of the convention and get them to reflect back on their childhood,’ he says.  ‘But the stories turned out to be very powerful as well.’  Beebe and his team are still editing the stories and looking for a publisher who will combine both portraits and stories in a book.  A documentary film crew was also working on the booth, so in addition to the instant exhibition on the convention floor, and a lasting series of historic portraits, Beebe’s project may well result in a film and book. 

The Gift
An indication that the project would go well came even before the official start of the convention.  Beebe and his assistants were standing outside the booth, watching the crowds mill around the convention center, and appreciating the human diversity on display.  Beebe noticed an older gentleman with a totally bald head, tufts of white hair and a finely tailored yellow suit. 

‘Just look at that guy over there,’ Beebe exclaimed.  ‘He’s gorgeous.  Let’s go get him.’  The older gentleman turned out to be John J. Sweeny, long-time head of the AFL-CIO, and one of the most powerful labor leaders in modern American history.  ‘He was wonderful, very generous with his time and full of wonderful stories about his life. Later some Teamsters walked past and offered to bring me Jim Hoffa, Junior.  I felt I had been given a gift of spending 15 minutes of real time with the huge range of individuals who came together to make this historical moment.  There were a lot of tears, and very emotional connections.  That kind of opportunity doesn't come up very often for a photographer.’

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