The Political Arena Backstage (PHOTOS)

I scratched my head and wondered just why I was driving to MCM’s studio to watch their reporting of the county and state election returns. It’s been a long time since I watched live programming inside a studio. I have to go back to days at WSYR station in Syracuse, New York and watching a live, local kids show.

Tonight is no kid’s show. The game has been played by the candidates (contestants) and now the scores are being tallied and presented live. Peoples careers hang in the balance with new starts or closed chapters. It all happens live.

To me, photographing in and around the political arena is a lot like shooting sports. Scorecards, speaking performances, strategic positioning, commentary, spin moves, athletic last minute hustling as the candidates hit the home stretch. There are many metaphors shared between both worlds. Heck, the victors have a victory party with confetti and balloons dropping from the ceiling. All that it is missing is the shower spray of champagne and cold beer.

Commentary on election night results is the dominion of all late night news-casting. It is an orchestration of live feeds from closed polls, campaign headquarters and political analysts seated around tables. Really, this is no different than watching ESPN or the BTN giving us the latest scores.

What you don’t see are the people behind the scenes who make that live show happen. So tonight that’s my story line. I voted so I have an interest in the outcomes in Montgomery County and in the Old Line State. However, tonight I don’t care about recording the outcomes. I am focused on capturing the newscasters in this political arena. Take a look at these behind the scenes photos:

Soccer Mom catches up on the winning goal

Man in Black

The A Team

The Green Room

Control Room screens

Panel members

Coverage

Hogan is up by how much?

The face behind all the screens

Phil Andrews stops by

Checking the Maryland Polls

Looking Good

Panel #1

MCM Vote 2014

About Phil Fabrizio

Phil Fabrizio is an event, news and sports photographer in the Washington D.C. Metro area. He lives in North Potomac and has operated Sugarloaf Photography since 1985. He is a member of the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce and serves on the board of the Glen Echo Partnership for Arts and Culture, Inc in Glen Echo. Stop by Phil's PhotoLoaf site or follow him on Twitter @Photoloaf. Find Phil's blog on MyMCMedia here.

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