The Photographer Behind a Powerful Portrait of Elijah E. Cummings

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When Representative Elijah E. Cummings died last week at age 68, a photograph of him that was published with his obituary in The New York Times was also displayed outside his office and widely shared on social media.

Mr. Cummings, the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, is pictured standing in the room where the committee meets, in a navy suit, holding a gavel. (Staff members at The Times were told he really liked the image.)

The photograph was taken by Justin T. Gellerson for an article about Mr. Cummings’ role as a key player in the impeachment investigation of President Trump.

The congressman had been moving through the Capitol on a motorized scooter and was in poor health. But in the photo, Mr. Cummings, who represented a district that included much of Baltimore for 23 years, seems to embody his position as one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress.

Mr. Gellerson, the photographer, reflected on what it was like to photograph the congressman that day. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Describe the day that you photographed Representative Cummings.

I’ve been a part of a lot of shoots with politicians and done a fair amount of it myself. I had asked if we could use the committee room that he was the chair of just because I kind of thought that would make for a more powerful space to photograph him than an office where there are a lot of reflections and stuff on the wall.

He didn’t seem to love the process of being photographed, but he gave me a lot of time. But it did seem like he was in pain. I don’t know if I understood that about him, that his mobility was limited in that way.

He was such a powerful voice throughout politics that I didn’t want this thing to read that it was hard for him to stand for sustained periods of time. But the reality was that we were having to go near objects that he could brace himself.

What are the challenges in photographing a politician?

I think politicians are used to being photographed. A lot of politicians are aware of their image and aware of their brands in a way that most people aren’t.

How do you address that?

Representative Cummings was really natural. For him, it was just kind of putting him in a place and giving him direction for what to do with his shoulders or head. He had a fired-up energy about him. He wasn’t unpleasant, but no nonsense.

What do you hope that a portrait will accomplish?

I want it to feel natural and I wanted it to feel like it’s that person and it represents that person to the best of my abilities. Every time I photograph someone, I say: “If I have asked you to do anything that you’re not comfortable with doing, please let me know. At the end of the day, it’s just my name under the photo. It’s your face. This is more about you.”

How much time did you have with Representative Cummings?

I think probably 10 minutes. But I had a lot of time to think about the setting and think about lighting.

The photograph also seems to evoke the historical political portrait.

That was definitely something I was thinking about — making something that kind of felt like a painting, or painterly, and just being able to control the shadows on him. I worked with Elizabeth Herman and Celeste Sloman to photograph 130 lawmakers in the 116th United States Congress. We did that for three days creating these painterly portraits, and a lot of the references for that were paintings.

What are the elements of this portrait that do that?

A lot of it is the setting. We often see politicians behind a podium, or waving on a stage, or kissing a baby’s head — the tropes of portraits. By setting it in a committee room, it strips away a lot of that stuff. It takes away the things that feel modern. If this were in his office you could see a telephone on the desk, or family photographs.

But when you take it outside of that setting and put it in a room with beautiful wood and leather chairs and the flags loose in the background, there aren’t so many distractions. The setting itself feels important, and you’re just looking at him.

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Katie Van Syckle is a senior staff editor at The Times. @KatieVanSyckle

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