The Little Things

There are many, AMAZING photo-essays flying around the internet that walk us through the incredible journey to this great moment in history. The moment in history when a young, black man with an unusual name, the son of an African immigrant, raised by a single, white mother became the 44th President of the United States of America. But here are my favorites. For me it has always been and will always be about the little things. I believe that it’s in the smallest of details that you see the greatness in a man.

I loved that he cleaned up after himself before leaving an ice cream shop in Wapello, Iowa. He didn't have to. The event was over and the press had left. He is used to taking care of things himself and I think this is one of the qualities that makes Obama different from so many other political candidates I've encountered. Nov. 7, 2007. Callie Shell for Time .
These two boys waited as a long line of adults greeted Senator Obama before a rally on Martin Luther King Day in Columbia, S.C. They never took their eyes off of him. Their grandmother told me, "Our young men have waited a long time to have someone to look up to, to make them believe Dr. King's words can be true for them." Jan. 21, 2008. Callie Shell for Time .Waiting: Obama listens from a back stairwell as he is introduced in Muscatine, Iowa. It was his second or third speech of the day. Unlike many of the politicians I have photographed in the past, I find it is easy to get a photograph of Obama alone. He lets his staff do their jobs and not fuss over him. Nov. 7, 2007. Callie Shell for Time .Two staffers had just passed this site and done two pull-ups. Not to be outdone, Obama did three with ease, dropped and walked out to make a speech. Missoula, Mont., 4/5/2008. Callie Shell for Time .While Obama goes over his speech in his head, Michelle and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, check him over. Several minutes later he walked out to announce he was running for President of the United States. Springfield, Ill., 2/10/2007. Callie Shell for Time .It was primary morning in New Hampshire. Barack and Michelle Obama had been campaigning separately all week. In the first few months of 2008 their private time seemed to consist of a few crossover moments in back hallways before rallies. This moment was rare and you could tell they just loved being able to sit together. Jan. 8, 2008. Callie Shell for Time .The Obama family on their campaign bus before a Fourth of July picnic in Butte, Mont., 7/4/2008. They are watching a Fourth of July celebration while the crowd arrives at their own event. Callie Shell for Time .Asleep somewhere between Derry and Salem, N.H., 1/6/2008. With three rallies down and two more to go, Obama catches a quick nap on his campaign bus as it headed for Salem. I once asked him when we were traveling through Illinois and he was about to fall asleep, if he cared if I took a picture. He said I was fine photographing him until his jaw dropped. This night his jaw dropped after I took three frames. Callie Shell for Time .
Senator Obama was doing press interviews by telephone in a holding room between events. Sometime later as he was getting ready to begin his event, he asked me if I was photographing his shoes. When I said yes, he told me that he had already had them resoled once since he entered the race a year earlier. Providence, R.I., 3/1/2008. Callie Shell for Time .