I wasn’t planning on sharing the photos from the day the election was called for Biden for a couple of reasons. For starters, they aren’t technically very good photos. They’re blurry, particularly the photos taken at dusk. I had a slow lens and I didn’t increase the ISO enough because I didn’t want any noise (but apparently blurry photos were fine?). Seriously, what kind of photographer makes a decision like that?
Secondly, the photos are “old”. So many other things have happened since the election was called. A bunch of redneck insurgents stormed our Capitol with the intent to do violence. It’s been discovered that people we trust to lead our country and keep us safe were a part of insurgency (this might be the scariest thing out of everything – who can we trust anymore?). Biden has been sworn in despite the aforementioned insurgent rednecks. AMANDA GORMAN stole the show at the inauguration. I think she should be a speech writer for Biden and deliver all of his national addresses in poem form. And most recently a bunch of angry nerds ruined Wall Street’s attempt to manipulate the stock market.
I changed my mind because these photos in all of their technical failures remind me of a very joyous day and I need that right now. The day the election was called my neighborhood celebrated. Cars drove up and down Clark Street honking and waving flags. People played music and danced in the streets. Mayor Lightfoot even rolled up like she was the Queen of England and gave a speech. There was a collective sigh of relief that day. For the first time in four years I thought perhaps our country wasn’t as doomed as I thought it was.
