Re: A room for everybody

["C.M. Fortunko" <fortunko@boulder.nist.gov>]

Fred,

Great story. Thank you.

Chris


At 03:43 PM 11/23/96 -0400, you wrote:
>re: Brian Levy s question about the White House.....
>
>
>To be accredited to the White House several things have to be in place.
>You have to be recognized as an authentic member of the press, usually
>done by employment by a news organization, but also possible in
>photography by being associated full time with one of the nationally or
>internationally known agencies, and be a local resident in the
>Washington area. All others get temporary passes according to need.
>Everyone must also agree to and pass a Secret Service and FBI security
>clearance examination.
>
>In the case of photographers, the Secret Service and the White House
>Press Office some years ago decided to let another organization handle
>the question of who was a real news photographer. So you have to be a
>member of the Senate Press Photographers Gallery before you apply to the
>White House. 
>
>I received my White House pass in October 1962 during the Cuban Missile
>Crisis (the week I moved to Washington from Florida) and have maintained
>it every two years since then. It is the only valid way to walk in and
>out of the White House at will. 
>
>I have done little work there since I spent two night-and-day months
>doing the last <insider> book done on a president. I had fabulous access
>in the Oval Office and in the living quarters and shot hundreds of b/w
>rolls for a book published by Harper and Row called PORTRAIT OF A
>PRESIDENT. I shot the book with three Leica M cameras and one Nikon F2
>for telephoto work. (That was before I switched SLRs for good to Canons,
>where I remain.)
>
>You also asked if many people used Leicas at the White House, and the
>answer is NO. Almost no one in the press uses Leicas. Newspapers and
>magazines will not buy them usually, and most of the work is done with
>motors, zooms, and at a distance. When I did the presidency book two of
>the White House photographers used Leica Ms (for close work, available
>light, and quiet) but the current staff uses Nikons. 
>
>The public pictures are almost done under TV lights. The private
>pictures in the Oval Office and in the living quarters are almost always
>done with available light. I shot for the book often with Tri-X rated at
>800, and was at 1/15 sec. much of the time in the dark corners at night,
>where the light was dim. 
>
>Regards, 
>
>Fred Ward
>
>