Photography And The Black & White Factor

That’s black and white as in police cars.

As I documented over at my blog, I had another encounter with the Plattsburgh PD while taking photos. This has been an occasional but persistent problem. Reaching back into the dusty archives, I found this piece that details the first major encounter.

It all depends upon the officer. Sometimes a police car will stop, the officer will chat a bit with me, and he just drives on. No problem.

Then are other officers who go into paranoid control-freak mode. For example, this article from three years ago…


= = =

Land Of The Free?

Police + Photographer = Problem


Variation On A Theme


When they came for the writers, I said nothing.

When they came for the photographers, I said nothing.

And when they came for me, for some reason there was no record of it.




Land Of The Free (Just Don’t Take Photos)


Saturday night. August 5, 2006. Approximately 10 PM. I’m hanging around a downtown coffeehouse when I noticed some activity across the street in the parking lot. So I walk over, just wondering what is going on. I stand on the sidewalk, out of the way, while the EMTs and city police do their jobs.



I had my small digital camera with me. I decided to take a few shots. I didn’t use flash (it was too weak to be useful from where I was standing.)

Suddenly an officer of the Plattsburgh Police Department came over and asked to see my photographs on my camera’s LCD screen. I changed the subject, replying that I didn’t know there was a law preventing me from taking any pictures. The officer replied that there wasn’t any law, but someone had been injured and that person wouldn’t want a photograph taken. Blocking my view of the injured person being loaded into the ambulance, he ordered me to move along.

"Who's that citizen with a camera?"

"Let me talk to that citizen with a camera."

So what’s the problem? Do any of the crappy images accompanying this essay undermine the investigation? If I had been working for the local newspaper, would I be treated the same way? Does a reporter have more rights than an average citizen?

This is the fourth time I’ve been hassled by the city police when taking photographs at night. On the other occasions I was just shooting scenery, one shot spotlighting an American flag.

What is the Plattsburgh PD afraid of? An amateur photographer with a small point-and-shoot digital camera is a threat?

The Old Home Page

This is what used to greet visitors to writog.com .

Writog?

What's a writog?

A writer-photographer. DIY (Do It Yourself) citizen journalism.

Email: luketbush[at]yahoo[dot]com .

The Fred Phelps Lovefest

There's always a lot of excitement when the circus comes to town. In this case, the homophobic hate-mongers of Fred Phelps who visited Plattsburgh back in July 2005. Fred's little eristic empire, the Westboro Baptist Church, is based in Topeka, Kansas. When not bashing gays on their website, the crew likes to go on the road and spread their Christian message of love.

Apparently a cult member read a disturbing quote by Dan Stewart, the openly gay mayor of Plattsburgh at the time. In December 2004 there was debate at a city council meeting over letting various organizations set up booths during next year's Mayor's Cup festival. Stewart made the observation: "The last thing I want is Fred Phelps showing up in Plattsburgh."

Fred took that as an invitation: his clowns brought their colorful roadshow here during Mayor's Cup. Any debates about limiting what organizations could have booths during the festivities faded into the background, lost in the sound and the fury.

What follows are my observations in words and pictures.

= = =

Can't you feel the love -- from both sides?






















I can't put my finger on the problem...






What we seem to have here is a failure to communicate.




Don't forget -- children represent our future.










Don't tread on me -- or my flag.







This woman couldn't drop either one of her sacred picket signs to pick up the flags.



Instead, she dragged them across the dirty lawn with her feet.




Just takin' a couple of pics for the folks back home.



Yup, I wanna dokument how I brot luv to Plattsburgh.

David Kaczynski: Why The Death Penalty Is Wrong

Image & Text By Luke T. Bush (C) 2006

Originally Published 2/16/06


Last week David Kaczynski, Executive Director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, spoke at Plattsburgh University. It was an important lecture, one I almost missed, thanks to my “open mind.”

I wasn’t planning on attending, but as a favor for a friend I took some photos. I tried to be unobtrusive, cautiously moving around the auditorium for different perspectives on the event.

While I was concentrating on my photography, I found myself being drawn into David Kaczynski’s story. He explained how one’s POV in regards to the death penalty could change when a close relative is facing capital punishment. He talked about his brother Ted, how he turned Ted in to the FBI before someone else was hurt or killed. David Kaczynski thought he had an understanding with the FBI: the government wouldn’t recommend the death penalty. The FBI also promised David Kaczynski confidentiality, but that obviously was out the window when the press set up shop on his front steps. And when his brother Ted was on trial, the government pushed for the death penalty, another broken promise.

The lecture was personal, heartfelt. David Kaczynski talked about the good side of his brother, how Ted was a victim of mental illness. But it wasn’t an insanity defense that saved Ted Kaczynski; it was that he had top flight lawyers.

And that, said David Kaczynski, is one reason why he’s against the death penalty. Sometimes innocent people are executed because they can’t afford the best lawyers. Also, thanks to the relatively new innovation of DNA testing, it’s been proven that convicted people have been wrongly imprisoned. Life imprisonment without parole is the better alternative.

This lecture created a lasting impression. When I was taking pictures from various spots, I took a few of the audience, about 250 people. I could see they were also drawn into Kaczynski’s story. And while I probably wouldn’t agree with all of his viewpoints (I only heard a few during the lecture), I do think that David Kaczynski is someone I could discuss issues with in a calm, respectful manner – unlike some people who only want to argue and browbeat. His message should be heard.

So fortunately I did attend his lecture. Why didn’t I want to go in the first place? Looking back on it, I really don’t know – but I suspect that part of it was I had a pre-conceived idea of what the speaker was going to say, how he was going to say it. While I would agree with some of his viewpoints, I felt I would have to sit through some ultra-liberal nonsense, the type of stuff I had heard at other lectures. I don’t like nonsense, whether it’s left or right wing.

But this time I was wrong. I’m glad I went and listened. And also learned that my mind isn’t as open as it should be…


(For more information about David Kaczynski’s organization, go to www.nyadp.org)