ABDUL EL-Sayed For The Washington Post | Feb. 2026

U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed poses for a portrait in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Photo by Evan Cobb for The Washington Post)

I spent a cold February day in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a Washington Post editorial assignment photographing Democratic primary candidate for the U.S. Senate, Abdul El-Sayed, as he was out and about on the campaign trail.

U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks with customers and barbers at Blazin Wade Cuts in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Photo by Evan Cobb for The Washington Post)

The story offers a compelling window into the tensions shaping American politics right now, all through the lens of Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary.

Over the years, editorial has waxed and waned depending on a myriad of factors.

Still, whenever I get a call from a photo editor who works at a major outlet, I realize it is an opportunity to contribute a small piece of my perspective to a regional, national, or international story. This is quite the privilege as a photographer.

For this story, most of our time was spent at a barbershop and then at a community forum. When I arrived in Grand Rapids, I had an extra half hour before I was meeting with El-Sayed and his team. This space in the schedule allowed me to send my drone up for some scene-setting drone images, which ended up as part of the edit when the story landed in print in March.

The excitement that comes with knowing my photography was out in the world in tangible form is still such a gift.