Behind the Scenes

By Richard Stengel, Managing Editor

I first met and worked with the great photojoumalist Diana Walker when I covered my first presidential campaign in 1988. We were following Michael Dukakis, and she was generous enough to show a novice where to sit on the bus and how not to be the last person to get one's bags from the campaign plane. She also helped show me how to see--to look for the things that others don't notice.

That's what distinguishes Diana--the tiny but telling detail, the curious angle that gives the viewer a new insight. And though Diana has a large personality, she also excels at the thing that's essential for any great photojoumalist: blending into the background.

Photographers often do this so well that they don't get the attention they deserve. And our photographers do these signature behind-the-scenes pictures better than anyone else. So let me put three of TIME's expertly self-effacing photographers squarely into the picture.

First Walker. Her images are special because they are intimate and iconic at the same time. She takes what is momentary and makes it indelible. TIME's White House photographer from 1984 to 2000, she trained her eye on America's First Families, from Presidents Gerald Ford to Bill Clinton, even before joining the magazine. Some of the choicest images from those years are in her book The Bigger Picture: 30 Years of Portraits. In 1992 she was granted what would be eight years of behind-the-scenes access to the Clintons. That's how she famously captured Hillary Clinton's examination of Chelsea's outfit on Inauguration Day in 1997 and Bill's deep breath before accepting the nomination for President the second time. Walker resumed that close connection for the six day s leading up to Super Tuesday, when she was given unusual access to Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail--snapping her during moments of silence before rallies and private conversations backstage. Walker even lay down on the floor to capture an image of Clinton's heels at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco. Says she: "We want to show readers the images you won't see in the newspaper the next day."

Then there is Callie Shell, whose personal backstage pictures make her the consummate inside political photographer. On contract since 2001, she came to TIME straight from the White House, where she had worked for eight years covering former Vice President Al Gore. In 2004 she took pictures of Senator John Kerry's campaign, and since January 2006 she's been shadowing Senator Barack Obama.

Shell says you will never find Obama posing for the camera. "He doesn't care what his hair looks like," she says. "He doesn't care that he has big ears." For the record, so does she--a topic they like to kid each other about. Amid the hurly-burly of the campaign, Callie's images manage to find those rare moments of stillness.

Christopher Morris has been a TIME contract photographer for 20 years. Renowned for his shots of war zones around the world, he began covering politics for the magazine eight years ago, shortly after the birth of his first child. His clean, modern images have defined a new style of campaign coverage. Last year Chris won his second coveted Infinity Award for Photojournalism from the International Center of Photography. Starting with Senator John McCain's presidential bid in 2000, Chris has continued to have unprecedented access, spending informal moments in McCain's hotel room, on the road and at the family ranch in Arizona. I trust you'll enjoy being a fly on the wall this week.

Richard Stengel, MANAGING EDITOR