A Hoosier perspective

My friend Sam Riche, better known as Stick Boy, has spent the past few weeks trailing the Democratic candidates as they crossed Indiana. Sam is a damned fine photographer and has been working with the Indianapolis Star for years. He’s also on the bleeding edge of new technologies as photo staffs learn to adjust to new demands and paradigms.His photographs of Barack, Hillary and their supporters from the past few weeks can be seen here.

Sam and I met in Assembly Hall in Bloomington, home of the Indiana Hoosiers basketball squad. That was in December of 1990. He’s got a pair of boys, who I last saw about 18 months ago when I was photographing the wedding of a mutual friend in Indianapolis. We each studied under the late great Will Counts in Bloomington, and Sam’s first boy is named Will.

Have a look at what Stick Boy has seen. Photographing a candidate “on stage” can be a bit monotonous, but keeping the eyes open for those revealing moments in what can be fluid situations is a photojournalist’s job and responsibility.