Inauguration Day Reflections: Katie Hayes
To be honest, photographing the 2009 Inauguration of Barack Obama started out as a selfish act. After covering the November 4th Grant Park event, I knew that there would be no other moment like this in America’s history. The photographer inside of me wanted this moment recorded and documented, so that I could go back to my archive in thirty years and show that I was there, I was part of something historic.
After witnessing Grant Park, I could not imagine a more emotional scene. However, my experience in D.C. was much different and probably more meaningful to me, as an American citizen. As I exited the subway station on 14th Street, I entered the mass of people all walking toward the same destination. For the first time in my lifetime, Americans of all sorts were proud to stand together. They were not bound together by tragedy, but by hope. Hope that our country would live up to high standards--in spite of the foundation laid by politicians before this day.