Behind the Shoot, Zohran Mamdani for the Cover of TIME
How a political portrait comes together: light, tension, and a little magic.
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Photographing politicians means running up against a wall of control. Campaign teams rehearse every gesture, the wardrobe defaults to suits and ties, and the result is portraits that retain the stale look of a corporate headshot. The challenge for the photographer is to bulldoze through all these protective layers and reveal the psychological tension behind the rigid spectacle of a political portrait. Platon’s iconic image of Bill Clinton happened when he asked the president to “show him some love.” I’ve never been adept at that kind of hustle, so when TIME asked me to shoot Mamdani for their cover, I concocted a plan based on my usual trifecta of light, color, and magic.