Documenting the Hometown President

A Distant Marine One in the Rain, Chicago, 2010

Over the past eight years I have been able to document some of the interesting sights the occurred concerning President Obama during his time in office. As the first Chicago resident to become President, there were many opportunities to come across the  Presidential machinery, and although I did not come face to face with Mr. Obama, my car was once nearly hit by his speeding motorcade.

I wasn’t able to get the up-close and personal photos that White House photographer Pete Souza was able to get. However, I was able to capture some of the smaller ways that the people of Chicago and other places reacted to the President, showing the ways in which they liked or disliked him.

Ripped Obama Poster by Artist Ray Noland, Chicago, 2010

 I did make specific trips to get photos in regards to the Obama Presidency such as attending his announcement to run for the office on that bitter cold day (the wind chill was 5 degrees Fahrenheit) in Springfield in February of 2007. I made the 194 mile trip to the State Capital with the idea of documenting an Illinois politician running for President (something I hadn’t experienced and might never again) and he also had a good chance of winning. While it was very cold and I was too far away (and too short) to get a good photo of Mr. Obama I was able to get a good deal of the setting and the exuberant crowd.

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llinois State Police Keep Watch, Springfield, IL., 2007 / A Hopeful Supporter, Springfield, IL., 2007

Another trip I made was to Grant Park in Chicago for the Obama Victory celebration. It was an unusually warm day (70 degrees Fahrenheit) and there was an electricity in the air all over the city. It was a very exciting event to capture with my camera although, similarly to the announcement in Springfield, once you staked out a spot in the crowd it was impossible to get anything outside of where you were standing. Again, I went with getting the setting and the crowd but this time I wanted to get the way that it worked visually within the fabric of the city as well.

“Obamanomenon”, Chicago, 2008 / “Change”, Chicago, 2008

In order to complete the three events leading up to the start of Obama’s Presidency, I made sure to make it down to Pioneer Court on Michigan Ave. where a giant screen had been erected in order to show the swearing in of the President. I didn’t have any urge to go to the inauguration in Washington D.C. figuring that I wanted to continue to document it from the Chicago perspective.

Swearing in of President Obama as Seen on TV, Pioneer Court, Chicago, 2009

After those events I made sure to grab any instances that I would see in regards to Obama. And, of course, some of those included the negative views that many Americans had about the President.

Obama Joker Poster, FT. Wayne, IN., 2009 / “Comrade”, Berwyn, IL., 2014

Although Mr. Obama’s years as President are over his complicated legacy is sure to continue to stir people here in Chicago as well as throughout the rest of the country for years to come. I will continue to capture his influence as part of my documenting Chicago history while I also prepare to photograph the effects that the incoming President has on the next four years. (All Images- Copyright, Jeffery C. Johnson, 2017)

Detail, School Mural, Chicago, 2009

Trophy Hunting

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Dedication of Maggie Daley Park) Chicago, 2015 (Jeffery C. Johnson)

Having both a grandfather and father that were professional photographers throughout the Chicago area from the 1930’s onward has presented many an interesting photographic similarity.

One such similarity has been the capturing of Chicago’s mayors, and while these captures have been mostly during ceremonial moments,they have interesting nonetheless.

I was able to put my first heads on the wall today after capturing Chicago’s current mayor Rahm Emanuel (2011- ) and the last mayor Richard M. Daley at a dedication of the new Maggie Daley Park.

This capture is important because I was somewhat behind in head count of Chicago Mayors as compared to my grandfather and father. My grandfather Elmer Johnson was a photojournalist and newspaper publisher that captured Mayor Martin Kennelly who was Mayor of Chicago from 1947 to 1955.

Mayor Martin Kennelly (cutting the ribbon), Opening of the California Ave. Bus Line, Early 1950’s (Elmer Johnson)

Elmer would often take photos of politicians and public officials doing official business throughout the city, whether it be large or small, for both the Chicago Daily News and then his own suburban newspaper group called The Times. Another of these photos is this cool photo of Richard J. Daley, Chicago’s Mayor from 1955-1976, in which he is being greeted and treated as if he is the Pope.

Mayor Ricarhd J. Daley, Opening of I-55 Expressway, Palmer House Hotel, Chicago, Oct., 24, 1964 (Elmer Johnson)

Many years later my father Denny Johnson, also a photojournalist at his father’s newspaper and then a freelance for such publications as USA Today and the Chicago Tribune, shot a photo of then Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne, Chicago’s first female mayor (1979-1983), at an event.  While he also took a more intimate photo of then candidate for State’s Attorney Richard M. Daley, Mayor of Chicago from 1989-2011, at the Lyons office of the family newspaper.

Mayor Jane Byrne, Chicago, 1980’s (Denny Johnson)

Richard M. Daley, Lyons, IL., 1980’s (Denny Johnson)

And, of course, the way we Johnson’s troll these plains, I was bound to get a shot of former Mayor Daley myself and today I did. It’s just another head on the wall from this great city and another trophy from over 80 years of family shooting to stare at while enjoying cheap brandy and candy cigars.

Former Mayor Ricard M. Daley, Chicago, 2015 (Jeffery C. Johnson)

And all the while I’ll keep slicing off pieces of this city’s present so that I can add it to the family collection of the past.

ALL photos copyright Jeffery C. Johnson, 2015

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