photos/Jacob Hand

Jacob Hand, A&S '02, is a professional photographer (Jacob Hand Photography) who captured images of Obama's Grant Park victory rally that spilled into the streets of Chicago on Election Night. Below, he shares his version of the evening with UC Magazine.

I woke up very early on Nov. 4 — half in anticipation for the outcome of the election, half because I had to get up early to beat the rush to vote before my photo shoot that day. With Chicago being Obama's adopted hometown, a nervous anticipation was in the air. When I got to my polling station seven minutes after the polls opened, there was already a line around it.

I had plans after my photo shoot to meet a friend who had an extra ticket for the victory rally in Grant Park, as he was a donor and a volunteer for the Obama campaign. I rode my bike to work so I could make it to the victory rally as soon as possible because I knew it would be nearly impossible to find parking or even negotiate public transportation. Days before the event, they were expecting a million or more people to attend.

My shoot ran a little later than expected, so I didn't make it to Grant Park until about 7:30 p.m. I locked my bike to the only thing I could find not claimed by other cyclists, some scaffolding on a nearby building. The streets were already filled with people trying to file into the park — long lines down several side streets and onto Michigan Avenue.

I had a hard time reaching my friend on the phone to get my ticket. Eventually I was successful, but, unfortunately, he and his friends had been pulled into the mass of people entering the park, and he couldn't fight the current to make it back out.

Although I was somewhat disappointed, I wasn't that upset. Another line had formed for people without rally tickets, and we were directed to a part of the park just north of the rally where a large jumbo-tron had been set up with polling updates.

Besides, just seeing the massive turnout for Obama and experiencing the excitement of the crowd was worth it. Even though it was well before Obama's victory, people were acting like he had won.

I didn't see as much nervous anticipation as I would have expected. The positivity of the crowd was palpable. People from all walks of life were milling around talking and telling stories. I even saw two people collide by accident, where one person was actually knocked over. No fight ensued; both parties just smiled and helped each other up.

It seemed as if everyone wanted to take part in this historic event, recording it on cell-phones, cameras and camcorders. Many were taking turns photographing themselves in line waiting to get into one of the parks.

And the crowds just kept coming. I eventually hit a wall of people on Congress Parkway. The line to get into the "Non-Ticket Holders" section extended all the way out of the park and onto Michigan Avenue.

In between shots, I had been trying to look online to see the status of the election with my phone. When I couldn't get online, someone standing nearby sensed my frustration and explained that the cell-phone towers had been shut down for security purposes. Someone else announced that Obama had just won Pennsylvania.

Realizing I wasn't going to make it into either of the rally areas, I decided to make my way back to my neighborhood to get some reaction shots there. On the way, I bumped into some friends, also on bikes, who were heading to a nearby Election Day Party. They told me then that Obama had just won Ohio, and I couldn't believe it. Many of my friends had gone back home to campaign for Obama in Cincinnati and Columbus.

I watched the rest of the polling results at a party in a high-rise downtown, and when Obama suddenly won the election, you could hear the people inside nearby apartments cheer. In another high-rise across the street, you could see the blue light of televisions and people jumping up and down, pumping their arms.

Later, we went back to the streets to celebrate with all of Chicago. Everyone was so excited that anytime you locked eyes with someone, they would cheer "Obama!" or "He did it!" The ride home from the city was equally amazing as I passed people making their way downtown, cheering all the way.

View slideshows, story about Obama's visits to UC
See video of Brooklyn's Obama street party. (Video and story by Jake's sister.)