Early in the pandemic we were shooting very few photographs inside the California State Capitol building. Our role is usually covering Democratic Assemblymembers and their bills as they move through the legislative process. The closure of the State Capitol building almost put an end to this type of coverage. DCO Photographers Krisnia Parker and Jeff Walters were eventually given permission to photograph in the building again under strict protocol and weekly Covid tests. These historic images they photographed will help illustrate how the CA State Assembly continued to work under unusual circumstances during the Covid19 pandemic. They will also be topic of discussion decades from now. We have selected five images from more than 1000 that we have archived through the Pandemic.
Notable differences in the CA State Capitol building was the quietness and how that compounded the emptiness feeling for those of us that were entering on a regular basis. The building is usually packed with tourists and school groups averaging more than 500,000 visitors each year. The silence was eerie. The people our photographers did see, usually just the Assembymembers or one of their staff were wearing face masks making it difficult to capture the emotion we normally see in our photos. Social distancing also created issues when trying to capture the intimacy and secretiveness often seen during their many huddles on the floor and in the office. With that said these images still allows constituents to get a sense of what was happening and associated emotions through their posture and gestures and when photographing close-up, their eyes.
Speaker’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Juan Torres peers through the open door to the Speakers main office as Assembly Budget Committee Chair Phil Ting leaves after a morning meeting with Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon.
Speaker’s Chief of Staff, Carrie Warren chats with Juan Torres and Jason Sisney, Senior Budget Consultant early in the morning before the Assembly Floor Session where they are about to vote on a COVID relief package. Being socially distant is not easy within the many small areas within the Speakers Office.
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon meets with Jason Sisney, Senior Budget Consultant regarding the Covid Relief Bill. The mask serves as a time stamp in these photos. The choice to go black and white or tone the image the way Jeff Walters did was a simple creative decision to help add mood and drama to the image.
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon greets (Assembly Republican) and elbow-bumps in place of a handshake. Capturing the elbow-bump or a head nod is the new handshake photo during the pandemic, an almost impossible task at times.
After a long day, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon paces on the floor while he meets with more constituents over the phone, a change from the many meetings he would hold in his office prior to COVID19.
