Archive Page 78

Set-Crashing Photog Tells All

Published May 25, 2010 Photographers' Rights 2 Comments
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If you’ve wondered what goes into getting those clandestine movie set shots that are plastered all over the gossip magazines and E! News, Photo Shelter has an enlightening interview with photographer Eric Ford of On Location News. Ford is a movie buff who started out as an extra, transitioned into photography, and now uses his passion and patience to camp out on sets to get big shots. He got the first-ever set photos of Brad and Angelina on Mr. & Mrs. Smith and made headlines recently with a racy Adam Lambert shot (which he explains how he got).

Ford distinguishes himself from the scrum of regular paparazzi because he only takes set photos, but the article doesn’t mention that he was investigated by the FBI in 2007 for trying to sell sexually explicit photos of the underage Kardashian sisters.

Read the whole interview at Photo Shelter (via The Click)

LA City Council Punishes Press Corps

Published May 24, 2010 Photographers' Rights , Police Harassment 2 Comments
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UPDATE: The LA Times reports that Council President Eric Garcetti apologized to members of the media yesterday for the council’s recent restrictions and promised to rework them. Garcetti also told reporter Eric Leonard he had every right to take photos and he’s talked to Officer Johnson about the incident.

The Los Angeles City Council has found an effective way to control their negative press — by restricting, blocking and punishing the media that cover them.

When protestors showed up at City Hall on Friday over a rent control/tenants rights issue, things got heated and there was an ugly confrontation with LAPD officers. KFI AM 360 reporter Eric Leonard was photographing the scene when Officer Michael Johnson of the  General Services, the City Council’s security force,  got aggressive with him and threatened him with arrest. Despite the chaotic scene, Johnson apparently was more concerned with not having his picture taken.

This incident comes on the heels of puzzling restrictions imposed last week by Council President Eric Garcetti and members Dennis Zine and Jan Perry. Among the new rules reporters have to follow are that they can only stand in a certain place, they can’t talk to any of the council members, and if they don’t comply they can be thrown out or even arrested. The Council has come under fire recently for some unpopular decisions, and Leonard acknowledges there’s real friction between the Council and the press corps. And now, the City council clearly seems to be retaliating for unfavorable coverage with a slew of inexplicably petty rules and restrictions.

Officer Johnson is the enforcer of rules big and small, and talk radio host Michael Linder’s blog reports that he’s even gone so far as to reprimand a camerawoman for her tripod sticking out beyond a designated area, not allowing reporters to sit down no matter how long meetings go on, and restricting the filming of faces of people testifying before the council. So in other words, what they’re thinking is, death by a thousand cuts — let’s just make these reporters’ lives as miserable as possible.

Garcetti and Perry have agreed to meet with the media about the situation on Monday — on the condition that they don’t report on what transpires. Naturally.

Articles from LAist.com and Michael Linder. And listen to Eric Leonard’s take on the incident here (at about 4:45 in).

BP Threatens CBS Camera Crew

Published May 21, 2010 Harassment , Photographers' Rights 1 Comment
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If you needed any proof that the U.S. is pretty much run by big oil, here it is.

In an apparent effort to control the coverage of the catastrophic oil spill (which, by the way, cannot be done at this point), BP is trying to limit the media’s access to Louisiana’s damaged coastline.

On Tuesday, several BP contractors, accompanied by two Coast Guard officers, ordered a CBS Evening News crew filming the beaches to leave and threatened them with arrest. On the tape, the contractor says, “…this is BP’s rules, it’s not ours.”

Since when does a private corporation own the shores of Louisiana? They are responsible for a colossal, irreparable, shameful mistake, and then they get to throw their weight around and control the coverage afterwards — and, then to make matters worse, the US government is totally complicit in all this?

Well, not in theory, says the Coast Guard. From their statement:

Neither BP nor the U.S. Coast Guard, who are responding to the spill, have any rules in place that would prohibit media access to impacted areas and we were disappointed to hear of this incident.  … The only time anyone would be asked to move from an area would be if there were safety concerns, or they were interfering with response operations.  This did occur off South Pass Monday which may have caused the confusion reported by CBS today.

Article from Gawker

Spill Baby Spill

Published May 20, 2010 Photographers' Rights Leave a Comment
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Photo courtesy of Governor Jindal’s Office

This oil spill business is scary. If you’re not yet freaked out about this, you should be. BP initially estimated that around 5,000 barrels are pouring into the Gulf every day. Experts think the number is closer to 95,000. At least 6 million gallons have already been spilled. The Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989, considered the most environmentally damaging  spill ever, released around 11 million gallons into Prince William Sound. 

On Flickr, there is a set of photos of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s tour of the marshlands, which are now, a month later, being overcome with syrupy oil. See it here.

Poor Louisiana. The state just can’t catch a break.

Los Angeles Metro Robs Its Riders

Published May 18, 2010 Photographers' Rights Leave a Comment

On May 1, 2010 I was asked to photograph the May Day Rally that took place in downtown Los Angeles. Instead of driving my car or riding my bike, I decided to hop on the Metro for the first time since Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Richard Gylfie accused me of being a terrorist and “in cahoots with Al-qaeda” for taking pictures on the Metro.

Well, when I inserted a $5 bill to purchase a $1.25 pass I was told I would not receive any change. Okay, fine. So I went across the street to CVS, made a purchase, and made sure that I was given exactly $1.25 in change in order to insert $1 and 25 cents in Metro’s ticket machine.

Okay, problem solved, right? No.

When I tried to insert my $1.25, their machines would only accept paper money and would not accept my 25 cent coin, forcing me to pay at least $2.00 for a $1.25 ride.

Now I wonder how much money the Los Angeles Metro stole from its riders that day and have still managed to get away with it.

AP Reporter Slammed for Collapsed Pol Shots

Published May 14, 2010 Photographers' Rights , Security Guard Harassment Leave a Comment
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Photo by Erik Schelzig

UPDATE: Tennessee Report is reporting that Speaker Kent Williams will not support the measure to strip Erik Schelzig of his press credentials and Rep. Joe Towns has withdrawn it. Williams said, “He was just doing his job.” 

When Tennessee House Speaker Kent Williams collapsed on the floor of the general assembly on Thursday, AP reporter Erik Schelzig did his job and took photos of the incident with his cell phone. But that irked other members of the assembly who called it “despicable” and “distasteful” behavior — because they apparently felt that a journalist shouldn’t cover breaking news but should instead…I don’t know, say a prayer?

Well, yeah. As the Bristol Herald Courier reported, while Williams was getting medical attention the other state senators actually gathered for an “impromptu prayer.”

Some members even tried to prevent Schelzig from doing his job by blocking his shots. Then some state troopers came to threaten him with removal if he didn’t stop taking photos. Even though Schelzig agreed to leave, at least one legislator wants to strip him of his press credentials for the rest of the  legislative session.

As the Tennessee/Kentucky/Mississippi AP bureau chief said in a statement:

“…Erik Schelzig was doing his job covering breaking news at the General Assembly when House Speaker Kent Williams collapsed. The legislative sessions are open to the public, and members of the news media routinely record what happens there in words, photographs, audio and video. Though we believe Schelzig had the right to continue his reporting, he complied immediately with officials’ order to leave the chamber.”

Really — what a bunch of self-important blowhards. These people are public figures in a public building. Are they really that naive? I can’t stand this self-righteous faux dignity that comes from politicians, as if they should only be covered for certain things at certain times but not for others. You are a public servant. Deal with it.

And quit with the praying on taxpayers’ time.

Article from the Knoxville News Sentinel

Photojournalists & the Common Denominators

Published May 13, 2010 Photojournalism Leave a Comment
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Photo by discarted

From Alex Garcia, writer of the Chicago Tribune’s photojournalist blog, comes a post on the “10 Key Traits of Winning Photojournalists.” Garcia has been in the field for 20 years and witnessed enough careers go boom or bust to compile a pretty interesting list.

There are a lot of talented photojournalists, and not all get recognized for their work. You may ask yourself: “So how can I become tops in my profession?”; “Do I have what it takes?”; “Is there something I could be doing?”; “Born or made?”

Do you have all, any…?

1. A lone wolf orientation
2. Single, or have a flexible family life
3. An immovable faith in the power of an image
4. Fearless
5. Fast and decisive
6. Ability to self-edit
7. Competitive, very
8. Clever
9. Relentless
10. Anointed

Article from Assignment Chicago

You Have Rights, Sure – If It’s On Tape

Published May 13, 2010 Assault , Police Harassment Leave a Comment
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Pogan-Long incident.


Honrohoe-Vazquez incident.

Is the difference between a cop being reprimanded for illegal actions a good-quality YouTube video? Well, yeah.

The New York Times uses the cases of two bicyclists who were knocked to the ground by members of the NYPD to illustrate the point. In one video, from 2008, Officer Patrick Pogan was just convicted after video emerged of him deliberately putting his shoulder into the path of cyclist Christopher Long, sending him flying. In the other video, from 2007, the actions of Officer Timothy Horohoe aren’t seen but for a split-second before cyclist Richard Vazquez crashes to the ground. Vazquez sued the NYPD and settled for $98,000 and Horohoe did not face any serious charges.

“Pogan, it’s 15 seconds,” [Vazquez’s lawyer Wylie] Stecklow said. “You see that boom; it’s not hard for anybody to look at that for 15 seconds and think they understand what happened. That’s why I think that took off and became viral. The Horohoe case, there’s a lot of nuance you have to understand.”

So, the takeaway lesson we learn from this is that your rights aren’t really ensured unless you or someone else is able to capture it on tape. And capture it well. It pays to travel with a cinematographer.

Article from New York Times (via Gawker)

Man Hits Cameraman On Way Into Court

Published May 12, 2010 Assault , Photographers' Rights , Photojournalism Leave a Comment
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KFOX cameraman Rudy Reyes was outside the federal courthouse in El Paso to shoot video of a defendant’s family members when one of defendant’s brothers smacked him  in the head as he passed by. The brother in question, the very elegant Paul Barraza, then denied it despite a handful of witnesses. Paul Barraza was later pulled out of the courthouse and arrested for assault.

I bet now he wishes he’d thought twice before doing something that stupid. I mean, really….

See the video here and listen to a KFOX reporter explain the backstory here.

Update: Charges Against LA Photographer Dropped

Published May 12, 2010 Photographers' Rights 1 Comment
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Criminal charges have been dropped against photographer Jonas Lara who was arrested while documenting two taggers in South Central LA in February. Through his legal defense fund, Lara was able to retain the legal services of Joel Koury of the Kavinoky Law Firm, who worked for far less than he normally does because he believed in the injustice of the case.

PDN Pulse reports that Koury knew his stuff and went in aggressively, refusing to take lesser charges that were still unfavorable to Lara.

“We’re not talking about some gang member, we’re talking about an actual photojournalist,” Koury says he told the prosecutor. “Just because a photojournalist takes a picture of someone committing a crime does not turn the photographer into a criminal,” he adds.

Koury’s tactic paid off, and now Lara is a free man, though he does have to pay a $200 fee to the property owner as restitution and he gets a disturbing the peace charge. The judge also ordered that Lara’s equipment be returned.

Put this as a win for photographers’ rights.

Read PDN Pulse’s story here and our own interview with Jonas Lara here.

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