Throughout a U.S. presidential race with more twists and turns than a Formula One road course, New York Times photographer Todd Heisler ’94 often reminds his colleagues to “keep (their) batteries charged.”
Heisler’s cameras and batteries are always ready too.
“We’ve never seen an election like it,” Heisler said. “From one week to the next, it seems like there’s something new and different happening. It’s a lot of energy to keep up with because we who document and reflect history must be there for it.”
From President Joe Biden dropping out of the race in July, to two assassination attempts on former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump, to Vice President Kamala Harris accepting the Democratic nomination and becoming the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to do so, the 2024 U.S. presidential election is unlike any other.
As both campaigns push toward the finish line this November, Heisler has an up close look, through his camera’s viewfinder, of history in the making.
“It’s really important to have photographers on the ground in a variety of different places to tell these stories and help people gain a better understanding of the time we live in,” Heisler said.
“It’s really important to have photographers on the ground in a variety of different places to tell these stories and help people gain a better understanding of the time we live in.”
Todd Heisler
A Mount Prospect native and Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts alum, Heisler majored in art and developed a love for photojournalism as a Vidette staff photographer.
“For me, that’s where it all came together—learning about art and aesthetics through the art program, and learning journalism working at the school newspaper,” Heisler said. “ISU was where everything started.”
After graduation, Heisler worked for weekly publications across Chicagoland before joining the Rocky Mountain News, a now-defunct daily newspaper in Denver. During his time there, Heisler earned a Pulitzer Prize for his series “Final Salute,” which documented a U.S. Marine whose job was to deliver the news of a soldier’s death to their families. In 2006, he became a staff photographer for the New York Times.
“I want my photography to slow things down and make people stop,” Heisler said. “I look for the humanity in things, whether it’s a still life or pictures of human beings. I try to humanize bigger news subjects. That’s a common theme in my work.”
During his 30 years as a photojournalist, Heisler has covered the Iraq War, Hurricane Sandy, a massive earthquake in Haiti, the Somali government, the impact of Alzheimer’s disease in Colombia, immigration in the U.S., a high school basketball team in the South Bronx, and a skateboarding oasis in Montana. He also photographed the cast of Glee, including fellow Illinois State alum Jane Lynch ’82.
But Heisler has never captured anything quite like the lead-up to this year’s presidential election. During the past four months, he covered both national conventions, starting in July with the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
“It was remarkable because two days before the convention, we saw an assassination attempt on a former president and an active candidate,” Heisler said. “We had never seen that in our lifetime, and that adds another layer of significance to this convention—waiting for this candidate to make an appearance for the first time since that attempt was a big moment. Watching a former president accept the nomination for the third time was also historically significant.”
Heisler said political conventions make for long days that are physically challenging and require extensive preparation. The New York Times had more than 10 photographers at each convention covering the speakers and crowd from several angles, offering a variety of shots for editors to publish online, in print, and on social media.
“Both of these conventions were historic,” Heisler said. “You’re watching democracy in action. You are watching a political party working very hard to get their messages across, but at the same time, you’re witnessing history. Each night, you have to think about the context and the historical significance of the speakers that will be there and the reaction thereof, and you try to be in the right place at the right time for that.”
For the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Heisler was the New York Times’ designated photographer in the “buffer area,” positioned on the floor of the United Center in front of the crowd and just behind Harris’ family, looking up at the stage.
As Harris delivered her acceptance speech, Heisler captured an image of the back of Harris’ great-niece, Amara, in a pink pantsuit and pigtails, watching her great-aunt making history at the lectern.
“I remember moving and looking at that scene, and I just decided to shoot it a little differently—a little longer lens, so it wasn’t a super wide shot; and I shot it vertically,” Heisler said. “I shot it a little cleaner, instead of getting everybody, I isolated the one niece because I liked that connection on a visceral level.”
Heisler’s photograph, labeled “The Next Generation” by the New York Times, went viral across social media and was printed on the paper’s front page, above the fold on Saturday, August 24. It’s received more than 30,000 likes on Heisler’s Instagram page and more than 300 comments.
“To have it be a moment that was so widely recognized is really special,” Heisler said. “Every photographer in that room is trying to make an image that speaks to someone, and to be able to reach outside that room and have people connect with one of your photographs on such a profound level is humbling. It’s what we work for every day.”
As election day draws near, Heisler—his batteries charged—is now focused on documenting what happens next. It’s a responsibility he doesn’t take lightly.
“Still photography has this really special way of resonating with people on a level that television doesn’t,” Heisler said. “We’re able to be there for these moments and make photographs that hopefully last beyond any election cycle.”
