--- description: In his photographs of the Michigan primary for TIME, Andrew Cutraro wanted to capture a sense of a state where the sentiment—at least outside the orchestrated campaign events—matches the landscape. title: The State of Michigan: Andrew Cutraro Photographs the Republican Primary image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt598cd17b1e2082b5/69879cf2cd68482eb009b641/hirez-20120228_2007.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The State of Michigan: Andrew Cutraro Photographs the Republican Primary  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Feb 29, 2012 6:34 AM CUT  February 28, 2012\. Rick Santorum leaves a restaurant in Kentwood, Mich., on the first day of having Secret Service agents assigned to his campaign. February 28, 2012\. Rick Santorum leaves a restaurant in Kentwood, Mich., on the first day of having Secret Service agents assigned to his campaign.Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Feb 29, 2012 6:34 AM CUT Yesterday morning in Kentwood, Mich., photographers and TV reporters squeezed into a small diner to try to capture an appearance by Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum. Andrew Cutraro, the photographer sent to cover yesterday’s Michigan primary for TIME, wasn’t there. He was outside, waiting in the Midwestern cold, attempting to predict the exact route Santorum would take from the diner to his car. The goal was to capture a unique image of the candidate, but there was no way to be sure whether Santorum would walk where Cutraro was set up. “I spent over an hour waiting outside, staking out his limo, to make one picture,” Cutraro says. “It’s nerve-wracking. You’re putting all your chips into one situation, and it either comes together and makes an interesting, fresh image or you don’t have anything.” That experience was emblematic of this stage of the presidential race, Cutraro says. For example, Tuesday was the very first day that Santorum had a Secret Service detail. Each of the remaining candidates has moved away from his grassroots origins, and gone are the days when a photographer could get an intimate, unplanned shot of someone who might one day be president. At the same time, the candidates are still getting used to the new situation and logistics may not be fully coordinated; the stage-managers are on board but their productions are still in rehearsal. “It’s this weird gestation in the campaign where they’re not organized enough that you can plan but also not loose enough that you can benefit from any serendipity,” says Cutraro. The photographer says that dealing with the candidates during what he identifies as their “growing pains” requires balancing the burden of getting the shots he wants — using a lighting set-up, having the help of an assistant — against the ability to be nimble. “I’m still personally trying to figure out where that sweet spot is,” he says. It also requires a lot of travel. And, as Cutraro points out, Michigan isn’t exactly a small state. But all that time on the road was put to good use. Cutraro didn’t just shoot the candidates and their supporters; he captured the backdrop against which the political drama played out. Many of his photographs from Michigan have a “street-view” feel, evoking what it’s like to pass through a place and soak it in. The photographer tried to identify the special Midwesternness of the landscape, the qualities that make it immediately apparent that one is not in any other place in the world. “A sense of place and a sense of time, I’ve always been interested in that,” the photographer says. “It should feel and look like Michigan this time of year and probably in this time in history, too.” Cutraro says he wanted to avoid familiar images of a decaying Detroit, but instead to capture a sense of Michigan that is — at least outside the orchestrated campaign events — like the land he saw through his window. “The landscape,” he says, “looks like the sentiment up here.” _Andrew Cutraro is a photographer based in New York City. He is represented by Redux. See more of his work_ [_here_](http://www.cutraro.com "undefined")_._  February 28, 2012\. Rick Santorum leaves a restaurant in Kentwood, Mich., on the first day of having Secret Service agents assigned to his campaign. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 25, 2012\. Flint, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 25, 2012\. Flint, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 26, 2012\. Rick Santorum with his daughter Elizabeth at a campaign stop in Davison, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 25, 2012\. The crowd recites the Pledge of Allegiance before hearing a speech by Rick Santorum at a Tea Party rally in St. Clair Shores, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 25, 2012\. Flint, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 26, 2012\. Lansing, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 26, 2012\. Lansing, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 25, 2012\. A man holds a copy of the Rick Santorum book It Takes a Family at a Tea Party rally in St. Clair Shores, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 25, 2012\. A house for sale in Flint, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 25, 2012\. Supporters of Ron Paul at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 25, 2012\. Flint, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 25, 2012\. Mitt Romney supporters attend a campaign rally at Kettering University in Flint, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 25, 2012\. Mitt Romney greeting supporters in Albion, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 27, 2012\. The crowd prays before Rick Santorum speaks at a rally in Kalamazoo, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 25, 2012\. A Rick Santorum supporter snaps a photo of the candidate at a Tea Party rally in St. Clair Shores, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 26, 2012\. Lansing, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 26, 2012\. Lansing, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 28, 2012\. Signs at the Rick Santorum for President field office in Grand Rapids, Mich., where volunteers were making get-out-the-vote calls. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME  February 28, 2012\. Rick Santorum and his wife speak to the press at the candidate's field office in Grand Rapids, Mich. Andrew Cutraro—For TIME ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3786582/michigan-primary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3786582/michigan-primary/"},"headline":"The State of Michigan: Andrew Cutraro Photographs the Republican Primary","datePublished":"2012-02-29T06:34:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:41:10.449Z","description":"In his photographs of the Michigan primary for TIME, Andrew Cutraro wanted to capture a sense of a state where the sentiment—at least outside the orchestrated campaign events—matches the landscape.","url":"https://time.com/3786582/michigan-primary/","keywords":["LightBox","politics","Michigan","photography","Election","primary","Romney","Photojournalism","the backstory"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt598cd17b1e2082b5/69879cf2cd68482eb009b641/hirez-20120228_2007.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt598cd17b1e2082b5/69879cf2cd68482eb009b641/hirez-20120228_2007.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rick Santorum","caption":"February 28, 2012. 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