Winter 2008

Election Night in Chicago–Capturing the Moment

Photo essay by Eli Reed
“I couldn’t stop crying.” From one conversation to another, those were the words photojournalist Eli Reed heard most often from friends after the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. For Eli, the enormity of what happened on November 4th didn’t hit him until the middle of the night, days later, when he was back home in Texas. In Chicago, though, all of his emotions were buried as he dispasssionately did his work. He arrived on the Thursday before the election to get a feel for the place and start taking pictures. He continued his work until just after Election Day. The photo essay on these pages is from that trip to Chicago, images Eli caught during the euphoria of those few days surrounding Obama’s election. —Lois Fiore



Ralph Coleman, 19, working at a South Side Chicago neighborhood grocery store on Election Day.



Barbara Farnandis, 73, originally from Mississippi and now from Chicago’s South Side, waits anxiously to see if Barack Obama would be declared the winner.



Blacks and whites, Latinos and whoever else felt a sense of release and relief at Barack Obama’s election victory celebrated on Michigan Avenue.



A young girl peers between voting booths in the 49th Precinct, Fourth Ward, South Side Chicago, as her parent votes.



A neighborhood boy wears an Obama mask on Halloween as he walks through the block where Obama lives.



A young woman next to a statue in Grant Park flashes a “V” for victory sign turned backwards.



Two women celebrate in front of the Hilton Hotel near Grant Park after waiting hours to hear the election results.



On Michigan Avenue, minutes after the announcement that Barack Obama was the President-elect, two couples pause to get a group photograph at this historic moment.



A scene from Grant Park on Election Night.

Photos by Eli Reed.


Eli Reed, a 1983 Nieman Fellow, is professor of photojournalism in the School of Journalism, University of Texas at Austin. A Magnum photographer, Reed has worked around the world for many magazines and newspapers. His two books, “Beirut, City of Regrets,” and “Black in America,” were published by W.W. Norton. “Getting Out,” his 1992 documentary on Detroit gangs, was honored by the 1996 Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame International Independent Film and Video Competition. Reed has received many other awards, including the Overseas Press Club Award for work done in Central America and the W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his work on Black Americans.

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