Faces Profile : Russell Daniels

By Lucas Hamilton

“I couldn’t ask for much better,” said photojournalism major Russell Daniels of his summer internship with the Associated Press in Chicago. “It was amazing to work in Chicago.”

For one of his assignments, Daniels staked out Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s house. “A lot of times you feel like paparazzi,” he said of the experience.

Daniels’ work was featured across the country, including in the New York Times, which ran his photo of Rev. Jesse Jackson on the front page after Jackson’s profanity-laden comments about Obama aired on Fox News this summer. “Guilt and ego were what I was looking for,” Daniels said. “It was the crowning moment of my career so far.”

As a result of his work, the AP offered Daniels another six-month internship. The offer was the first ever made by the AP to a photojournalist intern.

Though Daniels said that he missed covering local stories for newspapers, he enjoyed working in the big city and would like to work for the AP before pursuing a career in freelance photojournalism.