On September 14, 1901, Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office as president of the United States in Buffalo, following the assassination of his predecessor William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition. He was inaugurated in the home of his friend,
Buffalo lawyer Ansley Wilcox, which has now become a National Historic Site. There are many photographs of Roosevelt on the walls of this house, and I chose this one to best express the nature of this sad event. I moved in, eliminating its oval frame entirely. I exposed for the highlight on his face, making rest of the image fade into somber darkness. Roosevelt’s serious expression says a lot about this time and this place, and the darkness surrounding him symbolizes the mood of the moment. Yet his spectacles and the cord that dangles from them tell us he is ready to assume the job at hand. The sepia color expresses the photographic technique of the era.