When Eduardo Ezequiel boarded a plane and traveled the 9,000 kilometers that separated them Madrid of San Franciscocould not imagine that his life would end up being linked to that of the future vice president and, ultimately, Democratic candidate in the elections. Presidency of the United States, Kamala Harris. It was 2014. He was a 21-year-old student traveling to do an internship in political advice while he earned his living as au pair girl. That’s when the consulting firm that ran the Harris campaign be re-elected as California Attorney General He hired Ezequiel to work as a fundraiser.
“She was one of the company’s clients,” recalls the consultant and photographer in conversation with in the savannahthe podcast Puri Beltran For SPANISH. “I first had my role of fundraising for the campaign and, little by little, I evolved towards junior consultant at the same time as I combined my two passions: policy and the photographwho then loved hobby“His bosses at the consulting firm saw Ezequiel’s talent and determination and decided to give him the opportunity to support some of their clients in their daily lives, including Harris.
When Ezekiel began his work in RCS Strategies –The firm also ran the California gubernatorial campaigns Gavin Newsom and that of his predecessor, Jerry Brown–, the current Democratic candidate already has a long history of success as a San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general. “She had obtained a very important lawsuit in favor of the property owners who were affected by abusive clauses by banks and intercepted many criminal systems that came from Latin America and settled in the United States. “He had a great showing at the prosecutor’s office.”
Working hand in hand with her, first as a consultant and then as a photographer, allowed Eduardo Ezequiel to get to know both sides of her personality. The most common, that of imposing public face that he showed in his campaigns, in his work and in front of the media, where “It was very serious, direct, hard.; “A person who executes, someone who is not afraid of anyone.”
Since 2014, this strong and charismatic personality has been the talk of groups of journalists, always in small committeeof his projection into national politics. “It was clear that Harris and Newsom were going to be running for important positions. She did very well when she ran for Senate and later when she began her campaign. [para las primarias demócratas]decided to leave his presidential race against Biden in time. It was very smart, because he thought, ‘I have no prospects, I’ve worked my ass off and I’ve already made myself public.’ “So he gave way to Biden’s leadership because he had Trump’s reelection in front of him.”
Eduardo Ezequiel (l) laughs with Gavin Newsom (r), Governor of California.
Detail of Kamala Harris’ hands holding a glass of soy latte.
Image provided
Her early withdrawal from the presidential race earned her a very favorable rating for vice president, which has now allowed her to “to run for president of the United States“Today, the latest polls indicate an apparent return of the Democrats against the Republican Party at this location Harris as a possible winner of the upcoming November 5 presidential election. The strategy worked.
Harris, in all privacy
Eduardo Ezequiel also met the kinder and more complicit side of Kamala Harris. “When I met her, she was single, but then she came Doug Emhoff [su marido desde 2014]. He has always shown great complicity with him. From the beginning, this relationship has been a curious experience because of the research that you force yourself to do: who this person is, who their children are, you try to know a little about the environment in which they live. Kamala Harris is an extraordinary person. It is very easy to take intimate photos of them because they both have this great bond. The looks… sometimes I drooled on them“.
Among the many virtues the advisor reports is his sense of humor. In fact, one of the anecdotes The funniest thing between Ezequiel and Harris happened during their first few months at the consulting firm. “I was still an intern and I remember bringing her coffee. She He asked me for it with soy milkand I forgot about it and I brought it to him with regular milk. He looked me in the eye and asked, “Are you sure this has soy milk in it?” And I said, “Holy crap, not really.” So I had to go back. I took it that way because I followed a vegan diet from 5:00 p.m. California diets, you know, for reduce meat consumption without being so strict as to become 100% vegan.
Another detail that stands out about the presidential election is its proximity to the population over short distances.He really cares. She looks you in the eye, she holds your hand, she’s very physical in that way.“. Ezequiel tried to capture this humanity through his camera, and some of the photos he took during the years she accompanied him are now projected on a giant screen in the Democratic Convention. One of his favorites is the one he made with the daughter of the senator from California. Butler of Laphonzawho is among his greatest allies.
“I had a really good relationship with her. I captured a really sweet moment of Kamala Harris with Butler’s daughter. It’s a really cool photo of the girl falling asleep in her arms. There she is, at the convention, with some other photographs of me. After all, I was the photographer who had full access to his daily life“.
Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, played by Eduardo Ezequiel.
Image provided
One of the photographs taken by Eduardo Ezequiel, projected during the 2024 Democratic Convention.
Today, Kamala Harris is running to become the first woman to win the White House; Eduardo Ezequiel works in the offices of the Government of Aragon as Audiovisual Communication CoordinatorTheir paths followed opposing paths, but the memory of those stimulating campaign days, of knowing glances and of sleepless nights maintained by the soy coffees They still persist, immortal, in the corridors of his memory.
