The Spaniard who photographs Kamala Harris

Other plans

Kamala Harris hugs the daughter of a contributor to her 2018 campaign in California.

EDUARDO EZEQUIEL

Eduardo Ezequiel from Aragón is one of the candidates for the position of camera photographer of the next vice president of the United States.

Their relationship started with an accident: he almost served her coffee with syrup instead of soy milk.

"His deep knowledge of people and politics, coupled with his immense skills, make him a world-class political photographer," said Dan Newman, spokesman for the governor of California.

On April 9, in a state of alarm,

(Zaragoza, 1992) suffered a slight mishap while delivering pizzas by bicycle in his hometown.

Seven months later, his name is in the pool to be the White House photographer for

, who in January will become the first vice president of the United States.

In fact, he would have been Harris's campaign photographer in the presidential election had it not been for two enemies, one unexpected and one who has not abandoned him during his working life: the coronavirus and the visa.

On January 9, 2019, at

inauguration

as governor of California, the campaign manager of Kamala Harris, then a candidate in the Democratic primary for the United States Presidency, approached him and informed him of what would be his next mission: "Now you have another campaign to photograph," he snapped.

"But at the key moment, the pandemic arrived," recalls Eduardo Ezequiel (thus signing his works) from Haight-Ashbury, the epicenter of the counterculture in San Francisco.

From there he updates the paperwork that could not be completed after the travel ban between Spain and the United States.

He has been able to return to the North American country via Mexico after reinventing himself as a Bruma Pizza delivery man during his last stay in his country, something that was not a problem for him.

"

. A childhood friend had 24 hours to reinvent himself and we didn't think too much about it. We organized a pizza service at home, ethical, without depending on

or anything," he sums up.

Fortunately, he has been able to see the end of the US campaign in the forefront that has raised Harris to the front page of newspapers around the world.

"She has proven her worth at all stages of her life. She has been a brilliant prosecutor and

worst nightmare

. She

. Despite her loud laughter, she is tough, very serious. And she does not play the role of a woman, something they are not used to in the United States. She will be a good vice president, "the Spanish photographer details.

The future US Vice President brings a pizza to a team of volunteers.

/ EDUARDO EZEQUIEL

Her first contact with the former San Francisco district attorney dates back to 2014, when she was reelected as California attorney general and was already planning her candidacy for the Senate on the horizon.

He was credited with SCN Strategies, the West Coast's leading political consultancy.

"I came to the office where Harris was meeting with his advisers," recalls the young hand, "and his head of fundraising commissioned me when he saw me: 'Edu, can you get Kamala some coffee?' He said. Obviously, I agreed, and asked if they wanted it in any special way. Harris only made one specification: I wanted a '

', which for my bad English at the time turned into a "

"[coffee sweetened with syrup or similar]. Luckily, when I gave it to him he must have noticed something, because before taking the first drink, he looked me straight in the eyes and asked: '

'What to say, I quickly corrected my mistake and was able to dodge what would have been the end of my career. I almost broke his vegan evening diet! "

Because

.

"Although now I'm not sure that it continues to be so," he added.

"She has probably been forced to change her habits during the campaign. It is not uncommon when one night you have to go to New Hampshire and eat a rack of ribs with people who are waiting to vote for you," she says.

His relationship with the Democratic Party began in 2013, when he was an

[babysitter] in San Francisco.

His career in Mechanical Engineering lagged behind, and his intention to study Psychology at a distance did not seem to have much future.

But when he perfected his English, he combined his political commitment (he

) with his great passion, photography.

He did it at the right time in the right place, the aforementioned SCN Strategies.

"Since I was little I took magazines for photographs. In my Communion they gave me an

, the camera that the most

portraitists are looking for today

and I had fun taking photos without film, just to see the sizzle of the flash."

But the tips that her paternal grandmother gave her every time she visited her in Belchite (between 20 and 50 euros, sometimes to help her in her grocery store, most of the time just for "loving her a lot") gave her a minimal sufficiency. economical.

"With that I could develop the photos," he points out nostalgically.

However, it has not been a work appreciated by its environment.

"

. In my family it has never been considered a job. They did not understand that little step by step that I exercised together with influential people in politics, most of the time without payment."

Kamala Harris has coffee with California Governor Gavin Newson.

/ EDUARDO EZEQUIEL

On the other side of the pond they have a different opinion.

"His deep knowledge of people and politics, coupled with his immense skills, make him a world-class political photographer, in the league of

and

."

This is how

defines the work of Eduardo Ezequiel

, spokesman and chief strategist for

, the American personality with whom his work has most shone thanks to the "special relationship" that has been established between the two.

He in turn has been the one who has consolidated his relationship with Harris, with whom he has always penetrated when growing up in the Californian political landscape. "In the end,

. In the case of the governor, he knows that I will be very faithful. There is no permissiveness without trust, and the bodyguards can appease you without hesitation if you get too close " he jokes.

Plus, Newsom loves photography.

"He buys a

camera

every time he experiences an important moment in his life: when he had his first daughter, when he was proclaimed mayor of San Francisco first and governor later," he reveals.

The problem is that ... "he does not know how to use it".

To remedy this, they had a trip together to Yosemite National Park pending, another project that he has had to postpone.

But it is not something that makes you bitter.

He feels that it

.

The last three governors of California: Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown.

/ EDUARDO EZEQUIEL

In 2016, Eduardo Ezequiel's profile and personality had already penetrated the upper echelons of the Democratic Party.

They let him "bother and wander" through their domains.

For three months, she was in charge of taking "unofficial" photos

of Oakland mayoral candidate

, who was third in the polls despite touring the city from top to bottom.

He arrived practically without options to the final stretch.

But the legendary Governor

decided to support her in the last week of the campaign by exercising the so-called "

" [patronage] that is so important among American voters.

Brown makes the recommendation to the voters of his state through a video and Eduardo Ezequiel is in charge of recording it.

The electoral turnaround occurs.

Schaaf is elected mayor and the photographer from Zaragoza receives all kinds of praise.

The same ones that you cannot turn into work.

You must return to Spain as you do not have the necessary visa to carry out your work in the United States.

In our country, she decides to work in an

pair

recruitment office

, but the stress makes her lose hair.

"It was not something for me," he sums up.

A friend contacts him because his cousin runs

.

Although it is currently fully established in the sector, with about fifty employees, at that time there were five people.

Thus begins a tour throughout the country for three seasons.

And although he rubs shoulders with important national personalities, he longs for the United States.

At that time, he began a series of trips in search of a "more committed" photograph, which took him to places like Finca Sampaka in Equatorial Guinea.

But on a visit to California to "greet friends," Gavin Newson claims his services.

The Aragonese photographer Eduardo Ezequiel covers the 'Caravan of Migrants' as it passes through Mexico in 2019.

"Newsom is a good man. A visionary. He was the first to legalize gay marriage in California to the fear of

or

, who did not want to take a picture with him during a visit to San Francisco for fear of being considered an extremist", summarizes.

Eduardo Ezequiel covers the

entire campaign for governor

with his

.

Hundreds of kilometers on the road and a new victory.

"We ended the campaign bus with Trump saying that the exodus migrants were cold-blooded criminals," he recalls.

"I take advantage and join the Migrant Caravan in northern Mexico. There are 6000 people, more than 1000 of them children. I take hundreds of black and white photos that are published in media such as the

. All this coincides with the investiture of

... To which Newsom is invited, with whom he agrees and to whom he shows his images, the same ones that the politician would later use in private meetings to denounce the humanitarian crisis. He would even change the traditional California Governor's first trip to China for a displacement to El Salvador in order to understand the origin of the problem. "

.

They are the ones that allow migrants to get water and food instead of abandonment. "

His commitment also attracts Kamala Harris, who has the thorn in that she cannot count on him to immortalize historical moments such as his speech in which he honors the suffragettes with his dress or his video congratulating

.

So now you have to decide between the West Coast ... Or a certain point on the East.

Exactly 1,600 on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, where the White House stands.

"What will you do if the future vice president of the United States requires your services?"

He takes his time to respond.

After a few seconds of silence, a mischievous laugh and a doubtful answer escape him.

"I don't know. I think right now I'm not a 'follow someone' photographer. I feel like telling stories. My dream is more the

[dreaming of California] of the song than the

[American dream] .

, so ... "

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