There’s a 22-year-old college student who’s shaking up the world of political photography. His name is Gage Skidmore, and you’ve likely seen many of his photos without knowing it. He has captured and published tens of thousands of photos of virtually every major presidential candidate over the years, and his Creative Commons licensed photos are being used by the media and by politicians themselves.
Priceonomics points out that Donald Trump’s official presidential candidacy website currently features photos by Skidmore, including one as the main image that welcomes visitors.
Skidmore’s photos have been used by thousands of outlets and publications, from the Associated Press to NPR to The Washington Post. There are 30 million views on Skidmore’s Flickr account, and hundreds of thousands of image results on Google Images.
What’s remarkable is that Skidmore isn’t a full time photographer. He’s in college at Arizona State University, working on finishing up an accounting degree.
He’s just doing political photography as a side hobby.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaking with supporters at a town hall meeting at Hillside Middle School in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Skidmore tells us he first got started in photography back in March 2009, when he bought his first DSLR, a Canon Rebel XSi (which was later replaced with a Canon 50D, which was later replaced with a Canon 5D Mark II). He bought that first camera to shoot San Diego Comic-Con, which he has attended every year since 2007.
A big supporter of Ron Paul, Skidmore began shooting politics when Paul’s son, Rand Paul, launched a Senate bid in 2009. Skidmore began visiting campaign events in Kentucky as a high school student, and that kicked off his political photos.
U.S. Senator Rand Paul speaking with supporters at a volunteer meeting at his New Hampshire headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire.
In 2010, after graduating high school, Skidmore took a year off and began traveling through various states to photograph Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign. At the same time, he photographed every other Republican candidate at conferences in which Paul was speaking.
“Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a hangar at Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona.”
Skidmore is now traveling to covering Rand Paul’s new presidential campaign, and that has given him the opportunity to photograph every single presidential candidate in the 2016 election. He has since traveled all over the US to photograph events.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders speaking with supporters at a student meeting at Southern New Hampshire University in Hooksett, New Hampshire.
All of his photographs are published under a Creative Commons license that allows anyone to use the images, as long as credit is given.
“Creative Commons in my mind is a vehicle for my photos to be easily disseminated, and at first was a way to simply get my name out there,” Skidmore tells PetaPixel. “The photography industry is rapidly changing. I’d equate it slightly to Uber or Lyft and taxis.”
“AP and Getty will likely always be the one source that established news organizations such as CNN or the Wall Street Journal will utilize, but smaller websites or blogs, sites that are more than likely not going to pay for images to begin with,” he says, “I’d prefer it that they use my photos, and give me attribution instead.”
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz speaking with supporters at a meet and greet at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa.
Here are some other photos of well-known politicians that Skidmore has captured in recent times:
Former Governor Martin O’Malley speaking with supporters at a volunteer phone bank at his New Hampshire headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio speaking with supporters at the Americans for Peace, Prosperity & Security Forum at the Pandora Building at the University of New Hampshire in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Former Senator Rick Santorum speaking with supporters at a town hall meet and greet at BrownWinick in Des Moines, Iowa.
Former Governor Jeb Bush speaking with supporters at a town hall meeting at the FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny, Iowa.
Carly Fiorina speaking with a attendees at a welcome back party marking the beginning of the new legislative session at the Iowa State Historical Building in Des Moines, Iowa.
U.S. Senator John McCain speaking with supporters at a campaign rally, along with former Governor Mitt Romney, at Dobson High School in Mesa, Arizona.
Former U.S. Congressman Ron Paul speaking with attendees at the 2015 Mises Circle hosted by the Mises Institute in Phoenix, Arizona.
Ben Carson speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
Former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas speaking with supporters at a fundraiser at the Phoenix Country Club in Phoenix, Arizona.
President of the United States Barack Obama speaking on the recovering housing sector at Central High School in Phoenix, Arizona.
Former Governor Mitt Romney speaking at a victory rally with State Treasurer Doug Ducey at the Mesa Convention Center in Mesa, Arizona.
First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama speaking at an “Iowa Votes Rally” for U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Braley at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa.
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York speaking at a forum titled “Countering Iran’s Nuclear Terrorist Threats” hosted by the Iranian American Community of Arizona in Phoenix, Arizona.
Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey speaking at an event hosted by The McCain Institute in Phoenix, Arizona.
Newt Gingrich speaking to supporters at a townhall in Derry, New Hampshire, along with his wife, Callista.
President Barack Obama boarding Air Force One and departing Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, Arizona.
Skidmore says he isn’t planning on doing photography full time after graduating college, but will instead “most likely do something traditional in the business world.”
“I may continue to do freelance photography on the side, but who knows what opportunities will present themselves, whether they are photography related or not.”
Image credits: All photographs by Gage Skidmore and used with permission
from PetaPixel http://petapixel.com/2016/01/26/this-22-year-old-is-shaking-up-political-photography-with-creative-commons-images/
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