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3‘The job is all about anticipation’: behind the lens of the defining photo of the Trump rally shooting
July 15, 2024, The Guardian
It is a photograph that seems almost impossible: moments after a bullet grazes his ear, a former US president stands with his fist raised defiantly. The sky behind him is clear blue and an American flag flies overhead, fully in frame. The expressions on the faces of each secret service agents are clear and a smear of blood runs from Donald Trump’s ear to his cheek.
The photograph was taken by Evan Vucci, chief Washington photographer for the Associated Press. Vucci has been covering Trump since his candidacy eight years ago and in 2020 won a Pulitzer for a photograph of protests after George Floyd’s death.
“I heard the shots. So I ran to the stage as the Secret Service agents were starting to cover President Trump up. They were coming up on the stage from all different directions, and they were going on top of him. I went to the front, side of the stage and I started photographing everything I could,” says Vucci, who told the Guardian he has covered hundreds of rallies like the one in Pennsylvania on Sunday.
More agents arrived, he said, and what appeared to be a Swat team.
“I started thinking, OK, what’s going to happen next? Where is he going to go? Where do I need to be? Where do I need to stand? What is going to happen?”
“The job is all about anticipation,” Vucci says.
