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Photos of the Year 2000
Sunday, December 31, 2000
Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette Staff Photographer
Before his quest for the presidency was threatened by dimpled chads and butterfly ballots Texas Gov. George W. Bush faced a tough challenge from Arizona Sen. John McCain. The two men fought an often-acrimonious battle in the early days of the Republican primary; in the end Bush was victorious. To make amends and unite the party, both men agreed to meet in Pittsburgh.
Reporters and photographers from throughout the country flooded a conference room in one of the Westin William Penn's lower floors. I arrived early and took a position directly in front of a podium set up for a post-meeting news conference. Then I waited. Journalists covering presidential campaigns spend most of their time waiting.
Occasionally, a press agent would come by and give updates -- Sen. McCain has arrived at the hotel," "The governor and the senator are now meeting." Both candidates finally appeared. Gov. Bush entered first. He walked at a pace that seemed too brisk for the short distance to the podium. Then he was joined by Sen. McCain.
I can't remember much of what was said that day. I do, however, remember reporters pressing McCain: Was he endorsing Bush for the presidency? Everyone wanted to hear him utter the word.
"I endorse Gov. Bush, I endorse Gov. Bush, I endorse Gov. Bush," McCain said. Dozens of cameras clicked and whirred, sounding like a swarm of excited insects during mating season. McCain has offered us a funny and honest moment. That's why Sen. McCain was so appealing -- in a world of scripted campaigns, he appeared real.
Bob Donaldson, Post-Gazette Staff Photographer
The visuals of national political campaigns have been stage-managed to death for many years. Spontaneity is as rare as, well, spontaneity at a presidential campaign visit.
That's why I was stunned to see spontaneity jump out right in front of my eyes when Vice President Al Gore made a campaign stop at Goodwill Manor in Bridgeville.
After the usual managed meeting with senior citizens, Gore was pressed into an impromptu news conference by the press traveling with him. As he spoke on the lawn outside Goodwill Manor, several youngsters from the neighborhood climbed to the roof of a playhouse in the back yard of a home to see what the fuss was about.
It was such a neat picture, I had to look around to see if someone was on the other side of the fence instructing the kids to climb up there. Nope.
I thought, what we have here is a real picture from a political campaign appearance! Maybe there's hope yet for reality in politics.
Franka Bruns, Post-Gazette Staff Photographer
Hours before I was sent out to make a picture of Vice President Al Gore's concession speech, a few of us were discussing the best and most efficient way to shoot this assignment. After finding a unique way to photograph Bill Clinton's grand jury testimony in 1998 (staff photographer John Beale's photo of a Carnegie Mellon student reflected on the television screen as the president spoke), there seemed to be no way of photographing a television screen in a different way.
We decided to go to the Penguins' home game that evening, thinking there must be people in Mellon Arena who would switch the program for Gore's announcement. After walking around the arena for half an hour and encountering weird looks from most fans, I finally found one person who was eager to see what the vice president had to say. I waited around for the speech and made a very quiet picture, yet it said quite a bit about the importance of sports and politics in Pittsburgh. As far as the picture is concerned, I have learned that there is always a different way of looking at something we have seen so many times.
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