INTERVIEW: Here’s the Photographer Whose Lens You’ve Seen the Election Through

Anyone who works in media knows that the photo selected to go along with a story can (and will) make or break the success of the post. There is considerable evidence to back that up. A marketer named Jeff Bullas found that articles with images get 94% more views than articles without. Other analyses have found similarly compelling statistics. For instance, in one study, posts with images had an average of 64.9 shares compared to the 28 shares of an article with no image. The quality of the image, too, plays a key role in the overall success of a piece. The success of a piece, in turn, plays a part in building up the general knowledge of the reader which is, you know, what we are all about.

Obviously, there is a lot of pressure to use a really good photo to set posts apart and give readers the very best understanding of the people and events covered in the story, especially in an election season that is so fast-paced and convoluted at times. Buying images from photo services can be expensive, but it is just something that must be done…

…sort of.

There is one way for us political bloggers and writers to get amazing photos quickly and inexpensively: We can pay a visit to the Flickr page of Gage Skidmore.

If you’re a regular Mediaite reader, you’ve definitely seen his name before. His pictures appear all over our site. They are plentiful on his Flickr page and free to use because Skidmore has licensed them under Creative Commons. Beyond that, they are just good; he has an eye for detail and framing that makes his photos pop. Combine his talent and seeming lack of greed with the fact that he is a college student who isn’t even majoring in photography and has no real intention to pursue it as a career and you have a very, very interesting backstory on one of the quietest yet most effective players in the political journalism game right now.

We wanted to know more, so we reached out to Skidmore, who is celebrating his 23rd birthday today. After all, his photos are a large part of the way the average consumer is seeing and understanding this election.

Skidmore takes his evolving role in the political process in stride. He really just seems to be grateful for the chance to combine his interest in politics with his hobby of photography.

Here he is in his own words:

I really enjoy providing people with an insight on the campaign trail. I really enjoy going to places like Iowa, especially early on in the cycle when the stakes are much lower, as it allows the opportunity to get a much more intimate look at the candidates, away from all the media frenzy and enormous rallies that come later in the cycle. It’s an experience like no other, and I consider myself very lucky to have been able to document a very small portion of a very important part of our country’s political history.

Of course, the “very important part of our country’s political history” bit might be an understatement considering what a wild ride this campaign season is. He recognizes that and put his feelings about the current race for the presidency like this:

My hope for this election is that we can return to a sense of seriousness that is involved with holding the highest office in the world, instead of treating it simply as something that is entertainment. I describe myself politically as a libertarian, so I don’t really have a horse in this race, but the path we are on currently with massive debt and growing government influence needs to be reversed; unfortunately I don’t see that happening any time soon.

Luckily, photography is a hobby that has done wonders for him beyond this particular election. After previous profiles of him came out, Skidmore faced a barrage of negative comments from people who felt that he was not only selling himself short by making all of his images free for commercial use, but he was also undercutting the value of career photographers who do charge for their services. The negativity has not stopped him from pursuing his passion, nor has his free labor prevented him from getting paying gigs.

He told me, “Creative Commons has been a vehicle for me to get my name out there and allow my work to become known, [and] as a result I’ve been able to have dozens upon dozens of opportunities present themselves in the form of paid gigs, such as event photography, conferences and conventions, personal photo shoots, and other freelance work that mostly all came from people knowing my work and having the level of quality that they were looking for.”

In the end, he knows what a unique role he plays within the system, but he appreciates the obstacles he had to overcome to get there. He spoke of the “innate distrust” held by most politicians’ campaigns and the challenges he faced in proving that he was fair, unbiased, and more than capable of shooting every politician well, even if he didn’t agree with what they were saying at the time. As someone who has used his photos of Democratic and Republican pols alike, I can back him up on that one.

This election is certainly a whirlwind and every day when I come into the office, I brace myself for whatever bombshell comes my way. In the age of Donald Trump — whose official website uses Skidmore’s photos — there is no way to predict what sort of quote or event will get coverage from day to day, but it is a small comfort to know that finding a great picture to accompany the write-up will be easy.

[images via Gage Skidmore, of course]

For more from Lindsey, follow her on Twitter or Facebook. Oh, and go wish Mr. Skidmore a very happy 23rd birthday!