From Lincoln to Instagram: Photography and the presidential campaign

Presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln is photographed by Matthew Brady before delivering his Cooper Union address in New York City on Feb. 27, 1860.

Lincoln was the first presidential candidate to embrace photography, recognizing its ability to help propel his image and message.

As a presidential candidate, his photo was actively used as part of his campaign. “Lincoln was the first president in which they made prints of his photographs and during the convention, fluttered them down like confetti,” says Kiku Adatto, a scholar at Harvard’s Mahindra Humanities Center, who has researched the history of image use in culture and wrote the book “Picture Perfect: Life in the Age of the Photo Op.” - PhotoBlog

Fast forward 100 years: A view from the control room as Kennedy and Richard Nixon participate in the first televised presidential debate in Chicago on Sept. 26, 1960.

Fifty-two more years and you have: Through Instagram, #aponthetrail offers glimpses of the sidelines of the campaign.

What's next in, say, half that time again -- 26 years?

Posted by gerardvanderleun at November 5, 2012 4:27 PM