One of the more interesting parts of being a photographer is the chance to meet and photograph the people actively shaping business, culture, technology, and politics. Recently, the New York Post hired me to photograph Steve Hilton — the former Fox News host and current California gubernatorial candidate — for a story on California’s economy, leadership, and political direction.
The assignment was to create editorial portraits and accompanying imagery for the article while working in a fast-paced media environment around a high-profile public figure. As a Bay Area photographer and longtime photojournalist, assignments like this are always exciting: they combine portraiture, storytelling, journalism, and real-world unpredictability.
Photographing high-profile political figures
Over the years I’ve photographed a wide range of politicians, executives, public figures, and thought leaders across California and beyond. I realized recently that I’ve now photographed several of the major California gubernatorial frontrunners — often in completely different contexts. I previously photographed Tom Steyer during a book-launch event at his home, and I shot family portraits for Xavier Becerra at Stanford University.
Most of these assignments come together organically through editorial, corporate, or media relationships, but they highlight a unique aspect of working as a photographer in California: politics, technology, media, and culture constantly overlap. Especially in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley, photographers often find themselves documenting the people directly influencing major conversations happening nationally and globally.
Editorial photography in fast-moving environments
Political and editorial photography demands a different mindset than traditional commercial or studio work. You’re usually working with limited time, changing environments, fast-moving schedules, and minimal control over locations — all under pressure to produce polished images quickly. At the same time, the photographs still have to feel authentic, professional, and visually engaging. That balance is one of the things I enjoy most about editorial portrait photography.
Whether I’m photographing a CEO, an engineer, a wildfire scene, or a political candidate, the goal is always the same: create images that feel real while still elevating the subject visually.
A career spanning corporate, editorial, and political photography
One advantage of working across multiple photography worlds — corporate, editorial, commercial, and journalism — is the sheer variety of people and stories I get to document. In any given month I might photograph a major tech conference, executive headshots for a Fortune 500 company, environmental portraits inside a data center, breaking wildfire and news coverage, university campaigns, and political figures or public officials. That diversity keeps the work interesting and continually sharpens my ability to adapt quickly to different environments.
Published by the New York Post
The photographs from this assignment accompanied a New York Post story featuring Steve Hilton on California’s economic and political challenges. You can read the published article here: Steve Hilton blames Gavin Newsom for California’s economic struggles — New York Post.
Bay Area editorial and corporate photographer
As a California editorial photographer, I regularly shoot editorial assignments, executive portraits, conferences, corporate events, environmental portraits, and media-driven work throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley, and beyond. Clients and publications have included Google, Amazon, Salesforce, Stanford, AFP, the Associated Press, Getty Images, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Post.
If you’re looking for a Bay Area photographer for editorial portraiture, political photography, corporate events, executive headshots, or media assignments, get in touch.
Related: Press & Published Work · Breaking News & Features · Executive Headshots · Corporate Events · About Josh · Get in touch