Interview with the photographer of the Trump picture

EEarly Saturday evening, a series of photos and videos appeared on our digital screens depicting a shocking moment: the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

Image after image, we saw Trump, 78, first clutching his head with a confused expression as shots rang out. Then came photos of Secret Service agents pouncing on Trump behind the podium in front of a crowd of confused spectators. Followed by images of Trump, surrounded by personnel, sliding quickly off the stage. And then the now iconic images of Trump with his fist raised, his face covered in blood, and an American flag flapping in the wind behind him. Different versions of these images, taken by multiple photojournalists, continue to be shared.

One of these photos, taken by Related Press Photojournalist Evan Vucci was chosen for the cover of TIME magazine. The historical significance, the clear composition, the undeniable tension – all combined in a single image of an event that shocked the world.

Here’s what Vucci has to say about that moment. The interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

For preparation

It was Vucci’s past experiences that prepared him to capture this iconic image, he said. Vucci, who has been with AP for nearly 21 years, has covered everything from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the Trump presidency and Super Bowls to the protests following the death of George Floyd, for which his team was awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography.

“It was a situation that this tremendous experience absolutely prepares you for. Having that experience behind you allows you to stay calm. It wasn’t the first time I’d been in that situation. So I was able to keep my head cool, I was able to think. I was able to compose images. I think we were all there and we just stayed in the moment, stayed with the story. In my head I kept saying, ‘Slow down, slow down. Compose, compose.’ Okay, what’s going to happen next? What’s happening here? What’s happening there? I’m just trying to capture every angle.'”

About the moments after the shooting

Initially, Vucci used his telephoto lens to shoot from the back of the buffer area for photographers in front of the stage. When he heard gunshots, he immediately sprang into action. “I knew immediately what it was. So the first thing I thought was, ‘Okay, I have to get to the stage.'” Vucci moved closer with his wide-angle lens and snapped pictures while thinking ahead. Among other things, he guessed which route the Secret Service would take to remove Trump from the situation. As Vucci sprinted to the other side of the stage, Trump stood up and clenched his fists. Vucci ran to the corner of the stairs as Trump and his team prepared to leave the stage and snapped the photos that have now been widely shared.

About Trump’s raised fists

“It’s weird in that moment because your brain basically shuts down. You’re just thinking about, ‘Okay, what’s my composition or where is the light coming from? Is my exposure good? Do I need to move to the right? Do I need to move to the left?’ Because you have to be able to see his face. So when he started clenching his fist, I was surprised. And then I saw the blood on his face. And when I saw that, I knew that at least I had an image that told a news story. I knew I had something. So I felt good. At least there was something in the bag.”

About the technical process

Vucci’s cameras were connected to a hotspot, so he could instantly send photos from his camera to his editors at the touch of a button during all of this. “Today, the (media) landscape is all about speed, so all still photographers doing news do the same thing. Something happens in front of my lens, and within a minute or two, it’s on the AP channel.” After Trump left, the media were brought into a tent, and Vucci finally had a chance to look through his photos and send everything he’d taken to his editors.

Whether this will change his approach this election season

“The work is always the same. You just try to make different pictures, just try to move the story forward. I think the news value of this (Republican) convention may have increased a little bit or the interest may have increased a little bit, but I don’t think a photographer’s approach to it changes.”

To widely distribute his photos

Vucci’s images and those of several other photojournalists have been widely circulated around the world, and numerous news organizations have already begun evaluating the impact of these photos.

“It’s crazy because everyone asks me about it all the time. But I’ve been so busy that I haven’t really paid attention. My social media is basically just shut down because they have thousands of messages. I can’t keep up with it. And I just get a ton of interview requests and stuff. I’m trying to do the convention right now, so I don’t have time for anything like that.

“I haven’t had a chance to really think about all this yet. But apparently the photo is pretty viral.”

When he saw his photo on the cover of TIME Magazine

“I work for AP. We have a long tradition of photojournalism. And I think when you’re at that level and something like that happens to you, you can react a certain way and expect to produce something. I was just grateful that I could maintain that standard.”

About the audience’s reactions to his pictures

“That’s the other great thing about photography: two people can look at the exact same image and have completely different reactions to it. My job as a photojournalist is to show you the world through my eyes. I try to do that as best as I can, I try to be professional, I try to be as fair as I can. So how people see the images, how they market them, how they use them for their own views, that’s not my problem. What concerns me is that when this incident happened, I felt like I had done a really good job of showing you a key moment in American history.