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" IS THERE A GIANT-KILLER IN THE HOUSE?  CONGRESSMAN DICK GEPHARDT, MISSOURI  Congressman Gephardt has been in this game a long time, and he was very relaxed during the entire shoot. When his press person told me he loves to cook, I thought it would be great to get him in action. They&amp;#039;re crowded in the kitchen putting together an old family specialty called &amp;quot;party chicken.&amp;quot; And they&amp;#039;re laughing because it&amp;#039;s superhigh in fat, about the most unhealthy dish they could possibly cook. It&amp;#039;s made with chicken tenders, sour cream, beef, bacon, and cream-of-mushroom soup--a real heart stopper. And they love it. In between trips to the fridge, he talked a little about the election. He was very sincere in his belief that something needed to change. But for the most part it was small talk. The Gephardts were very comfortable with each other as adults. It was clear that when I left, they would sit down together and have a long conversation over a few glasses of wine. From left: Daughter Chrissy, wife Jane, Gephardt, daughter Kate.  SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS, NORTH CAROLINA  When I arrived at the Edwards home in Washington, the senator&amp;#039;s wife, Elizabeth, was in a bathrobe. I was a bit early. The shoot took place in the kids&amp;#039; playroom in the basement. One of the closets in the playroom was overflowing with four kids&amp;#039; worth of stuffed animals. There was concern that it would look excessive, so they decided to shut the door. I could physically see the tension of the dual role registered in Senator Edwards: at once a loving father surrounded by rambunctious kids, and at the same time a working politician. It was apparent that he and Elizabeth were not accustomed to having their picture taken in such an intimate setting. They had planned for a portrait, and what they got was kids flying around the room. They tried in vain to keep the kids still. Eventually I convinced them that the chaos was okay. And in the end, I think they were happy with it. From left: Son Jack, daughter Emma Claire, wife Elizabeth, Edwards, daughter Catharine.  SENATOR BOB GRAHAM, FLORIDA  This is Tripletville, the home of Senator Graham&amp;#039;s daughter and grandchildren in northern Virginia. During most of the shoot, Senator Graham&amp;#039;s wife, Adele, was concerned about the senator looking presidential. Did his shirt clash with the Tripletville room colors? Was the shot too busy? She spent much of the shoot humming &amp;quot;Hail to the Chief.&amp;quot; The senator was very relaxed. He was still recovering from open-heart surgery, and I think he was happy just to be with his family and enjoying the afternoon. I wanted the shot to be informal, so after trying the shot a few different ways, I decided to focus on the triplets. It was the day before their eighth birthday. And the senator is in their room doing the grandfather thing, monkeying around, making up wise tales. And the children are excited. They love how he tells stories, starting them in a familiar way and changing them in the end. From left: Granddaughter Ansley, Graham, granddaughters Kendall and Adele.   REV. AL SHARPTON, NEW YORK CITY  It was clear from the moment I walked into Sylvia&amp;#039;s soul-food restaurant in Harlem that the Reverend was a regular. Sylvia came over to chat, and many other customers came by to say hello. The Reverend was a bit more remote than the other candidates I&amp;#039;d shot. He wanted to sit down, eat, and leave. He ordered fried chicken, and his wife had the catfish. Because his daughters hadn&amp;#039;t been able to make it, there was no sense of parental deference. I was surprised that he was not more self-conscious while he went about eating. I probably got more shots of chicken bones than anything else. When I began asking Rev. Sharpton about his kids, he opened up a bit, in a way that may have even been more genuine than the other candidates had been. It wasn&amp;#039;t planned or artificial; it was just him. He made a joke, suggesting his wife would make a great secretary of defense. The whole thing was pretty fast. It lasted the time it takes to eat a chicken breast and some yams. From left: Wife Kathy, Sharpton.  SENATOR JOSEPH LIEBERMAN, CONNECTICUT  The first thing Senator Lieberman did when he arrived was make a beeline for the kitchen. He was hungry and grabbed some almonds out of the cupboard. We were at his son Matt&amp;#039;s home in New Haven shortly after Passover. Before I began shooting, Matt took a few of the holiday artifacts from the table. He was a bit concerned about the picture seeming too religious. There were three generations of Liebermans, and everyone was having a great time. Leftover turkey was being passed around, and the senator was playing the old disappearing-finger game and telling jokes. And Senator Lieberman was an old pro at this. I kept telling him, &amp;quot;You look here and let all the mayhem happen.&amp;quot; And he was really relaxed about that. He knew that was part of what a family was all about. He&amp;#039;d already been through it with his own kids, and now he&amp;#039;s going through it with his grandchildren. From left: Daughter Hani, wife Hadassah, granddaughter Tennessee, Lieberman, daughter-in-law April, granddaughter Willie D., son Matt.   SENATOR JOHN KERRY, MASSACHUSETTS  Senator Kerry&amp;#039;s initial idea for the shoot was to pose with his wife on the type of gunboat he captained in the Vietnam War. But in the end, the choice of location was dictated by when I could actually get the senator and his wife in the same place. When I entered his house in Washington, I was impressed by the art collection. It seemed every wall was adorned with a Dutch master or an exotic artifact. The senator&amp;#039;s press people were conscious of this and didn&amp;#039;t want the shot to seem overdone, so there were various discussions about where to shoot. When he entered the room, he had his phone to his ear, where it remained for most of the shoot. He told me that it was an ambassador on the other end and at one point offered me the hang-loose sign with his free hand. And for most of the shoot he had a very &amp;quot;go go go&amp;quot; attitude, but at the same time, he seemed a bit like a grown-up kid, flopping down on the chair, throwing his leg over the armrest, loosening his tie a bit. From left: Kerry, wife Teresa.  FORMER GOVERNOR HOWARD DEAN, VERMONT  Governor Dean was adamant about not including his family in the portrait. This was not negotiable. So I decided to photograph the governor with his surrogate family, the army of interns at his campaign headquarters. Between the seventies couches, flip-flops, and the tattooed throng of young people, the place has a very grassroots feel to it. The shoot itself was very quick. The governor waltzed in, sat down, and that was it. He seemed far more interested in talking issues than in having his picture taken. While some might argue that the interns are the Children of Dean, the lifeblood of his campaign, the ease and atmosphere that come with being shot among family were clearly missing. Rather than jokes and asides, the governor was stumping. At one point I asked him to give me a serious look rather than his stock smile. He answered very simply, &amp;quot;This is serious.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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