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- <text id=92TT1658>
- <title>
- July 27, 1992: From the Publisher
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1992
- July 27, 1992 The Democrats' New Generation
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- FROM THE PUBLISHER, Page 4
- </hdr><body>
- <p> Great ideas are often generated in the most unlikely places,
- or so claims photographer P.F. Bentley, whose latest brainstorm
- occurred while he was having dinner at a sushi bar in Nashua,
- N.H. Bentley was part of the press corps covering the state's
- first-in-the-nation primary, and he was trying to devise a more
- personal approach to the campaign. Then it hit him: Why not
- portray a run for the presidency from the inside looking out? A
- few days later, P.F. told associate picture editor Rick Boeth
- that he'd like to hook up with the Clinton campaign, a risky
- choice because the Arkansas Governor's candidacy was in deep
- trouble at the time and his aides were naturally suspicious of
- becoming involved with the press. "P.F. used all his
- considerable finesse and diplomatic skills to convince everyone
- in the campaign that he could be a part of their lives," recalls
- Boeth.
- </p>
- <p> That hunch led to the special series of photos that appear
- in this week's issue. Initially, Bentley and Clinton agreed to a
- one-month trial run, but the candidate felt sufficiently
- comfortable with the arrangement to continue it indefinitely.
- "We both understood that he would have to instantly trust me,"
- says Bentley. Campaign advisers were told to get used to the
- photographer's presence in meetings, and Hillary Clinton
- welcomed him to the family home in Little Rock. The first
- photos, published in late March, ended with a Clinton win in
- Illinois. Since then, Bentley has been privy to the Clinton
- campaign's controversies, days of triumph and stolen moments of
- calm. His photos capture the gritty reality of rumpled hotel
- rooms, late-night strategy sessions and quick dinners of cold
- pizza, all shot in black-and-white to emphasize the documentary
- nature of the project.
- </p>
- <p> P.F., 39, lives in Stinson Beach, Calif., grew up in
- Honolulu and has been a TIME photographer for 13 years. His TIME
- campaign coverage won first place in the Pictures of the Year
- Competition in both 1984 and 1988. In addition to his U.S.
- political coverage, Bentley has shot assignments in Panama, El
- Salvador and Haiti.
- </p>
- <p> "Clinton often acts as if I am not in the room at all, and
- we can go a couple of days without speaking to each other,"
- observes Bentley. "I've found him to be the most casual
- politician I have ever worked with." So casual, in fact, that
- P.F. actually followed Clinton into the steam room of his New
- York City hotel last week. The intrepid photographer could take
- only two exposures at a time before the cameras fogged up and
- had to be cleaned -- but eventually got the shot he wanted.
- </p>
- <p> Elizabeth P. Valk
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
-
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