Photo I shot of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s Presidential campaign announcement for Bloomberg was run as the A1 feature in Tuesday July 13th’s USA Today.

Over the weekend of April 3-5 myself and New York photographer Chris Lee were hired to take over Oakley Australia’s Instagram feed (@oakleyuas_nz) and document the 2015 Cycle Messenger World Championship, which was taking place in Melbourne, Australia. I was one of the creators of the @BarackObama Instagram account, and really love Instagram as a visual tool, so I was excited to get to take on the project with one of my favorite young photographers. 

This past Sunday, February 8th, just two weeks before Chicago’s primary elections, six candidates for Alderman of the 2nd Ward gathered at the headquarters of Cards Against Humanity, a self described “party game for horrible people”. This was to be the final debate of one of Chicago’s more unusual and competitive municipal races.
The district was redrawn prior to the 2015 elections, causing sitting Alderman Bob Fioretti to no longer live in the ward, effectively forcing him out of office. Fioretti is now challenging Mayor Rahm Emanual for Chicago’s top seat. The new district, which encompasses parts of the neighborhoods of Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Ukrainian Village, Wicker Park and Bucktown is one of the most sprawling and confusing in the city, and has been the subject of a federal lawsuit decrying it as unfair.

A municipal debate hosted by a company that recently made headlines on Black Friday selling bull feces on their website wasn’t something I’d ever heard of happening before. So I went. Some highlights below.

A map showing the newly redistricted 2nd Ward.

The theater at the Cards Against Humanity Offices, Chicago IL.

Candidate Cornell Wilson (center), a marine veteran and attorney, talks with attendees prior to the debate.

Candidate Bita Buenrostro (center), who immigrated to the U.S. from Iran at the age of 19, talks with attendees prior the start of the debate.

Candidate Stacey Pfingsten (center), a community outreach coordinator for outgoing Alderman Bob Fioretti, talks with her staff to distribute literature pieces.

Candidate Brian Hopkins (right), chief of staff of Cook County Commissioner John Daley, talks with an attendee prior to the debate.

WBEZ political reporter and moderator Lauren Chooljian backstage prior to the debate.

All six of the 2nd Ward candidates backstage. From left to right;  Alyx Pattison, Brian Hopkins, Stacy Pfingsten, Bita Buenrostro, Steve Niketopoulos, and Cornell Wilson.

Cornell Wilson takes the stage.

Cornell Wilson answers a question during the debate.

Brian Hopkins (left) talks with rival Steve Niketopoulos during the debate.

Moderator Lauren Chooljian watches as Stacey Pfingsten answers a question.

Candidate Steve Niketopoulos displays a Card Against Humanity to make a point during the debate. Niketopoulos was the only of the candidates to have previously played the game.

Candidate Alyx Pattison talks with a campaign aide following the debate.

An aide carries literature for candidate Bita Buenrostro.

Stacy Pfingsten gathers up literature and placards following the debate.

Back in November I wrapped up my role as Chief Photographer for Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s re-election campaign. During that time, unbeknownst to me, our staff video team of Simon Edelman and Whitt Vogel had been accumulating footage of me working, into a very unique kind of promo piece.
So if you want to know what my job looks like, this is it.

For the last year I’ve been photographing the #fightfor15 series of fast food and retail worker strikes in Chicago. These are part of a larger series of worker strikes centering around a push for a $15/hr minimum wage and the right for fast food workers to form a union.

These strikes culminated yesterday and today in protests at McDonald’s headquarters in Oak Brook IL, site of “Hamburger University” and the annual shareholders meeting. On Wednesday protesters entered the campus itself and 101 workers, clergy, and supporters were arrested.