| > * it is hard to imagine this not costing 10s of thousands of dollars and being out of the reach of most high school and college students.* I would be surprised if Gage and his parents have spent more than $10,000 of their personal money on this hobby. Again, cost near that range is certainly significant, but not monetarily immense for a middle class kid with a consuming hobby and supportive parents over the course of 7+ years. Gage has been frugal in his choice of college, and gets funding from GoFundMe campaigns. He also seems to have had side jobs. Simply choosing to attend a community college and then an in-state public university as Gage has done -- rather than a private university for 4 years -- is probably enough to defray a huge portion of his hobby's cost. I suspect Gage is also frugal in his means of travel and lodging. A sibling comment mentions the possibility of photographing candidates that come within a day or two trip of home. I imagine that accounts for most of Gage's photography. Consider this note from [2]: "Skidmore is a 19-year-old student at Glendale Community College in Phoenix and a freelance graphic designer. A Ron Paul supporter, he began photographing politicians when he was living in Terre Haute, Indiana, attending events held by Rand Paul during his successful 2010 Senate run in Kentucky." The drive from Terre Haute, IN to Lexington, KY is about 4 hours. That's completely doable in a day trip. I've driven 4 hours each way in day trips for similar free culture pursuits. It costs about $80 for gas and food. > "between states to more than 40 speaking engagements." Travel among multiple US states to attend 40 speaking engagements over the course of 7 years is not necessarily a major financial burden, even for someone Gage's age. > "I traveled to nearly every part of the country to cover his political events" "Part" can be pretty general. One could have covered events in Arizona, Iowa, New Hampshire and, say, Virginia and say one has traveled to nearly every part of the country -- the American West, Midwest, Northeast and South. > "Skidmore is hot on the campaign trail again, toggling his time between New Hampshire, Iowa, and Arizona" I think it's much more likely that Gage has been to New Hampshire and Iowa each once or twice in the 2016 campaign season, rather than flying out every weekend or so like a high-level political operative or corporate executive from his Arizona State University dorm room. --- [1] http://priceonomics.com/how-a-college-student-used-creative-... [2] http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/09/how-a-19-year-old-student-b... |