Opinions do not necessarily reflect CUIndependent.com or any of its sponsors.
Last night, I so badly wished to share these images of Coloradans watching the first female presidential nominee from a major political party win our state. I wish the images of people who shared her compassion, and the joy they captured, could be the story I reported. Instead, I had to document the tears of our fear: the fear that now exists for people living in this country who are not white males.
I wish I could share the photo of the moment Hillary Clinton won Colorado.
During the celebration of Clinton’s victory in Colorado, Tod, a CU MBA student, and his friends pile on to the pool table as Alexa (left) smiles. (Jackson Barnett/CU Independent)
I wish I share the smiling faces of Clinton’s volunteers.
A volunteer for Hillary’s campaign helps to tape up cut-outs of President Barack Obama and Sen. Bernie Sanders by the UMC. (Jackson Barnett/CU Independent)
Volunteers who after polls closed in the state were overcome with joy.
New Era volunteers Ceely and Alessandra embrace as the polls close in Colorado and their jobs to boost voter turnout are over. (Jackson Barnett/CU Independent)
I wish this photo, which shows Mariel’s joy and Neema’s fears, could be used to show that the close race ended in the volunteers’ favor.
Mariel embraces Neema as the polls close and their jobs as full time Clinton volunteers come to an end. (Jackson Barnett/CU Independent)
I wish I could be posting the images I couldn’t take. The images of people realizing we elected a woman that stands for the compassion and love that our president-elect is void of.
I wish I could post images that I never had the opportunity to take.
Austin, a business school undergrad, watches the returns as Michigan is too close to call at the Dark Horse bar. (Jackson Barnett/CU Independent)
Instead, all I could document was the fear and depression.
Fear from people who fear their health care being ripped away.
Violet sobs with Sage as Donald Trump gains in the polls. (Jackson Barnett/CU Independent)
Sadness of volunteers who knew they did everything they could.
Volunteers wait for the final results of a turning election. (Jackson Barnett/CU Independent)
Haley and Mariel watch the Pennsylvania returns in dismay. (Jackson Barnett/CU Independent)
Spencer sits at the Students for Hillary headquarters, watching the returns come in. (Jackson Barnett/CU Independent)
My final assignment was to photograph the Trump supporters as their candidate inched closer to winning the presidency. I had hoped the content of these images would not be necessary.
Chris, Megan and Steven smile in Steven’s apartment as they watch Trump pick up electoral votes. (Jackson Barnett/CU Independent)
Venessa smiles as Trump wins. (Jackson Barnett/CU Independent)
When I photograph, I care; I care about the subject in frame and the lives I am documenting. Having photographed drug addiction, destitution, poverty and the effects of abuse, none of those images pulled at my heart more than capturing Clinton supporters whose futures are now in the hands of a Trump presidency.
Contact CU Independent Opinion Staff Writer and Photographer Jackson Barnett at jackson.barnett@colorado.edu.
