Unconventional Photography at a Political Convention

A photographer used a 110-year-old camera to capture panoramic history at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, proving that in politics, as in life, everything old is new again.

Abbas Shirmohammadi, founder of Panoramic Visions Photography in Washington, D.C.,
at work at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Image courtesy Associated Press

“During the photo, there should not be any movement in the hall.” These aren’t words you expect to hear at a present-day event. As antique photography collectors know, some people like to do things the old-fashioned way. Abbas Shirmohammadi, founder of Panoramic Visions Photography in Washington, D.C., is one of them. Shirmohammadi took the official panoramic photograph of the delegates at this year’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, using a 110-year-old camera.

A video from the Associated Press shows the photographer using a large box camera mounted on a tripod to take the 360-degree view—and how long the delegates had to stand still for it. At the end, Shirmohammadi says, “Thank you for your patience.” It is well known that early cameras had very slow shutter speeds, which is why you rarely see people smiling in 19th-century photographs. Even the slightest movement would blur the image, something spirit photographers used to their advantage.

The exact camera that Shirmohammadi used has not been identified, but according to online publication PetaPixel, “it is likely to be akin to a 1915 Cirkut,” which “are the largest large-format cameras ever commercially produced.” The Cirkut camera was first made in 1904 by the Rochester Panoramic Company and later by Kodak.

Shirmohammadi also used the camera to photograph the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

Since its early days, Photography has been an important part of political coverage and political collectibles. American Political Items Collectors lists several early photography terms in its glossary. John Quincy Adams, who served from 1825 to 1829, is believed to be the first U.S. president to be photographed, but his picture was taken in 1843, long after he completed his term. Abraham Lincoln, photographed by Mathew Brady in 1860, was the first presidential candidate to be photographed for a campaign.

Coincidentally, the first presidential nominating convention to be photographed was also held in Chicago. This was the 1880 Republican National Convention, where James Garfield, attending to support Treasury Secretary John Sherman as the presidential candidate, received the nomination.

The Democratic National Convention in Chicago,
Aug. 19-22. Image courtesy Getty Images