Hillary Clinton, New York Times
“I could write an entire essay about why I love this photo. This very candid photo of a woman doing her job in an unspecial room, surrounded by scattered water bottles and the cords to various electronic devices and notices crudely taped to a wall.
This photo of an A student, immersed in her studies.
This photo of one of the most recognizable and admired women on the planet, sitting on a folding chair all on her own, in what has probably become a rare moment of quiet, so she can prepare to lead the free world.
This photo of a woman whose country has often been unfathomably cruel to her, doing her homework so that she can be prepared to be its leader, because she loves this country even when it doesn’t love her back, while its flag pokes into the frame from the corner, a symbol of the history, culture, industry, future of a great and struggling nation, stoically petitioning her from its perch above a dirty carpet in a small room.
This photo of diligent preparedness, demolishing ideas about voracious ego and ruthless ambition beneath a crumbling edifice of misogynist narratives about power-seeking women.
This photo of women’s work.
This photo of Hillary.”
- courtesy the inimitable Melissa McEwan