Politics / Photo Essay / August 23, 2024

Images From Inside (and Outside) the DNC

Here’s a look at this week’s 2024 Democratic National Convention.

Photos by Susan Meiselas

Long after the pageantry and the speeches at this week’s Democratic National Convention are forgotten, the images will linger. A beaming Kamala Harris capping her whirlwind journey to the top of the presidential ticket. Tim Walz’s son, Gus, unabashedly weeping with pride. The activists in the streets and on the floor, refusing to let Gaza be erased from the agenda.

This was a historic convention, one that saw every kind of emotion—jubilation, pride, defiance, heartbreak, and hope—flicker across its landscape. To capture this year’s DNC in all its complexity, we turned to renowned photographer Susan Meiselas, who was in Chicago all week. These are just a few of the many indelible images she brought back.

(Susan Meiselas / Magnum Photos)
(Susan Meiselas / Magnum Photos)
Chicago, August 19, 2024. Democratic National Convention.(Susan Meiselas / Magnum Photos)

To love this country is to fight for its people—all people, working people, everyday Americans like bartenders and factory workers and fast-food cashiers who punch a clock and are on their feet all day in some of the toughest jobs out there.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Chicago, August 19, 2024. Democratic National Convention.(Susan Meiselas / Magnum Photos)

So no matter what the polls say, we can’t let up. We can’t get driven down crazy conspiracy rabbit holes. We have to fight for the truth. We have to fight for Kamala as she will fight for us.

Hillary Clinton
Chicago, August 19, 2024. Democratic National Convention. Protesters marched toward the site of the Democratic National Convention on its opening day Monday to voice their opposition to the war in Gaza.(Susan Meiselas / Magnum Photos)

You’ve heard me say it before, we’re facing an inflection point, one of those rare moments in history when the decisions we make now will determine the fate of our nation and the world for decades to come.

Joe Biden

For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black. Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those “Black jobs”?

Michelle Obama
Chicago, August 19, 2024. President Joe Biden’s speaking in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’s candidacy for president during the first day of the Democratic National Convention.(Susan Meiselas / Magnum Photos)

History will remember Joe Biden as an outstanding president who defended democracy at a moment of great danger. Thank you, Joe.

Barack Obama
Chicago. August 20, 2024. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaking during the second day of the Democratic National Convention.(Susan Meiselas / Magnum Photos)
Kelly Jacobs, a delegate from Mississippi, at DemPalooza, held at McCormick Place during the Democratic National Convention.
Delegates enter United Center while passing by both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protesters.(Susan Meiselas / Magnum Photos)
(Susan Meiselas / Magnum Photos)
Vice President and now officially the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris gives her acceptance speech on the final day of the Democratic National Convention.(Susan Meiselas / Magnum Photos)
Susan Meiselas

Susan Meiselas is a documentary photographer based in New York and a member of the cooperative Magnum Photos. She is the author of Carnival Strippers (1976), Nicaragua (1981), Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History (1997), Pandora’s Box (2001), Encounters with the Dani (2003) Prince Street Girls (2016), A Room of Their Own (2017), Tar Beach (2020), and Carnival Strippers Revisited (2022).

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