Conventioneers

Those who stay away from the election think that one vote will do no good. ’Tis but one step more to think one vote will do no harm.    

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Four years ago, photographer Barry Goldstein attended the Republican National Convention in Tampa, capturing dozens of portraits of convention-goers, including these. This summer, on assignment for the Scholar, Goldstein will immerse himself in the crowd at both the Democratic and Republican conventions, each day sending us images and brief interviews with people he meets. The overarching theme of Goldstein’s work, he says, is “the long-term influence of 9/11 on our society.” To that end, he has photographed medical students who volunteered in the morgues after the Twin Towers fell, soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, and voters. Check our website in July for Goldstein’s daily reports from Cleveland and Philadelphia.