[LargeFormat] Rites of passage

[stuart phillips]

One of the hallmarks of my (first) visit to the USSR during the height of
the Cold War (1972) was the inadvisability of photographing anything of an
official nature - bridges, roads, public buildings etc. It is sad that the
US has sunk to the same depths but I can tell you that you are not alone
in your brush with the law; almost the same thing has happened to me on
more than one occasion. Sad, very sad.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <kaliushkin@att.net>
To: <largeformat@f32.net>
Cc: <kaliushkin@att.net>
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 2:30 PM
Subject: [LargeFormat] Rites of passage


> I have now gone through initiation as a View Camera Photographer.
>
> I spotted a potentially good picture of a few huge green tanks.  The
> viewpoint would be from a highway at the height of the tanks' tops.
This
> would be ideal for a view camera since the top of the tanks form a
horizontal
> plane.
>
> Last Friday, October 31, I set up the tripod and as I mounted the
Linhof, 2
> police cars with three policemen approached me, lights flashing and all.
> They didn't really arrest me but they did hassle me for about two hours.
>
> They told me that the subject matter was the problem.  If I were taking
> pictures of trees, they wouldn't have bothered.  Nevertheless, their
> investigation quickly moved from the photography (they didn't even
examine
> the camera) to me: was I a terrorist or a danger to society?
Fortunately,
> after calling my doctor and who knows who else, they concluded society
would
> be safe despite my presence.  My ethnicity worked in my favor.  No trace
of
> Islam. I think it was wrong of them to consider ethnic background.
>
> This must have been the most exciting event of their day.
>
> By the way, they told me they were grateful for how cooperative I was.
I
> didn't give them any opportunity to say I was impeding their
investigation.
>
> So I've gone through a rite of passage.  Now for some safer urban
subjects.
> Flowers?  Buildings.
>
>
> --
> Dan Kalish
> kaliushkin@att.net
> Flushing, NYC, USA
>
>
>
>
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