Photographing History at the Republican Convention
Photographing History at the Republican Convention
2 minute read
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and greets his daughter Ivanka onstage at the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIME
When Donald Trump walked on stage on the third night of the Republican National Convention, he approached his vice-presidential pick, Mike Pence, and leaned to kiss him on the cheek. “But their bodies didn’t quite line-up,” says Christopher Morris, the TIME contract photographer who captured what is now known as the “air kiss fail.” For Morris, “it’s just odd symbolism.”
For four days, Morris photographed the Republican National Convention, dissecting the strangeness of all the patriotic staging in his signature style at a defining time in American politics. “The first days felt like any other,” he says. “But last night, positioned just off stage under the podium, listening and watching to Ivanka [Trump] with her extreme beauty, describing her amazing life with her loving father, you could feel this was something different.”
For Morris, the scene wasn’t about Republicans, it wasn’t about Democrats. This was all Trump. “This is a family that’s poised to seize America. As I sat just off the stage listening to his voice, you knew this was unlike any other American political convention you experience in a lifetime. Truly, something extremely historic was taking place.”
Morris has been documenting politics since 1999 when he left conflict photography to cover John McCain’s presidential campaign and the ensuing White House race. The following year, he became TIME’s White House photographer and during his years in Washington, he produced two books – My America and Americans – that are widely credited with transforming the way politics was photographed, influencing generations of photographers while blurring the lines between straight photojournalism and art.
Morris pushed his photographic vision further into filmmaking over the years and in January shot a series of experimental short films called The Candidates for TIME.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and greets his daughter Ivanka onstage at the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMERepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump takes the stage at the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMEAn attendee at the listens to speeches at the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMERepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump takes the stage to speak at the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMEMedia at the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMERepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers his speech at the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMERepublican National Convention, Cleveland, Ohio.Donal Trump Jr speaks at the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.A moment of prayer Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMETiffany Trump, walks off stage after delivering a speech on the second day of the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMERepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a sound check on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMEAttendees celebrate as the Republican National Convention comes to a close on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMERepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump congratulates Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence after he delivered a speech on the third day of the Republican National Convention on July 20, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Christopher Morris—VII for TIMEAttendees cheers at the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMERepublican National Convention, Cleveland, Ohio.The delegate count for Mississippi at the Republican National Convention comes to a close on July 19, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.An attendees in colonial dress at the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMEAn attendee from Minnesota in a Trump cape at the Republican National Convention, on July 19, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Christopher Morris—VII for TIMEYoung attendees at the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMEMedia at the Republican National Convention on July 20, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMERepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence stand with their families at the end of the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMEScenes from the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMEA delegate from New Hampshire after the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Christopher Morris—VII for TIMEScenes from the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, on July 21, 2016.Christopher Morris—VII for TIME
