A Witness to the Characters, Chaos and Colors at the Republican Convention

Photographing a political convention takes a tireless stalker of detail and nuance. Since studying photojournalism at Ohio University and while working as a freelance photographer Landon Nordeman honed his vivid signature style photographing the spectacle of fashion – behind the scenes.

When he landed in Cleveland on Jul. 17, Nordeman instantly began documenting the Republican National Convention in real time by taking over TIME’s Snapchat account (follow “time_mag”) and by producing his trademark videos and photos.

Midway through the convention, Nordeman has already captured a vibrant portfolio of polychromatic images showing the excitement, anger and strangeness contained inside the Quicken Loans Arena .

The New York-based photographer has been documenting the election for TIME since December 2015. But he was taken aback by the show at the RNC. “I had no idea that people could love politics so much,” he says. “Their spirit is awesome and extremely photogenic. However, as much fun as I’ve been having photographing the people and the scene here in Cleveland, it’s not lost on me that the consequences of this election will change the course of history in extremely serious ways. Oh, what a time to be alive. A hundred years from now, I wonder how this time in America will be remembered and viewed. At the very least, I am extremely grateful to see the characters in this dramatic play with my own eyes.”

Follow TIME‘s photographers in real time during the RNC and DNC on Instagram (@timelightbox) and Snapchat.

Landon Nordeman’s photographs have been exhibited at The Howard Greenberg Gallery and The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing among other venues, and are in the collections of The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and The Columbus Museum of Art. Follow him on Instagram. And see more of Landon’s work covering the Trump campaign here.