"This is the worst party I've ever been to."

[Chris_]

"This is the worst party I've ever been to."

Starting in July 2015, I have photographed Republican and Democratic presidential candidates as they hit the campaign trail in New Hampshire, from meet-and-greets in public libraries to brewery tours to balloon festivals to gun stores to small town diners to function halls to community centers to university auditoriums. Many of the locations have been hosting candidates for decades, and they’re starting to show their age.

I’ve taken a different approach as I photograph this story, using a harsh and direct flash, evocative of early press photography. The campaigns usually bring in their own lighting and backdrops, and this technique is a deliberate attempt to subvert their control of the optics of politics. Shooting in this way reveals the edges of this political spectacle: cold food left on a buffet line, duct tape holding up the banners, wiring in the corner of the room, bored staffers and journalists, binder clips keeping the American flag in perfect posture. The work is not meant to be critical of any candidates, but rather to focus on the banality of these events as they are set up, performed, and taken down again and again and again.

M. Scott Brauer

Some of these are really... interesting.

[Big Dog]

Things I learned from the photos:

Ted Cruz likes Rocky Patel Decade cigars.

From the back, Hillary looks like she's smuggling two bulldogs in her pants.

Somebody is unusually fond of men's crotches, and 14 year old camel toes.

That same somebody should demand a refund from art school.