[Leica] fear and loathing on the campaign trail 2004

[lea at whinydogpress.com (lea)]

Beautiful.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kyle Cassidy" <KCassidy@asc.upenn.edu>
To: <lug@leica-users.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2004 7:00 PM
Subject: [Leica] fear and loathing on the campaign trail 2004


> It was hot. It was damp. And it was raining. The rain wasn't so much
falling
> as it was suspended in the air, you pushed through it rather than
having it
> fall down upon you in the traditional way. The rain was hot, like a
shower
> it soaked my vest, plastered my hair to my head, made my shoes squish,
but
> it didn't evaporate, it had no cooling powers. All this and I had to
shove
> my way through 3,000 people to photograph John Kerry the day before he
was
> to, presumably, get nominated by his party. The Kerry camp had booked
the
> steps of the art museum (called the "rocky steps" on the press kit).
Nobody
> knew where press check in was. People pointed left, people pointed
right,
> police had no idea or vague ideas. One said "around back". I went
around
> back. Three very very serious guys from the Secret Service
emphatically
> assured me in the most humorless way imaginable, that i was _not_
going in
> that way. "Absolutely not. Go around front and get in line." The line
> through the metal detectors was at least two hours long, I wasn't
looking
> forward to standing in the baking hot sun when I could be hobnobbing
it up
> in the press tent, but I got in line, waited, and went through the
metal
> detectors with everybody else. When I got to the top of the steps, I
saw
> that press check-in was indeed "around the back" where I'd been
initially. I
> checked in, just as Kerry was going on stage. Made my way around front
and
> immediately bumped into Molly Bingham, who was Al Gore's photographer
in
> 2000, but more recently fameous for going missing in Iraq (she seems
to have
> been found) sporting a pair of Leicas. The lighting situation was
pretty bad
> from down in front, very backlit sky. I eventually moved over to the
press
> riser and tried to get some shots of Kerry with city hall in the
background
> thinking "Philadelphia Magazine". I ended up staying there for most of
the
> event, got back down on the ground for the fireworks at the end, but
as soon
> as kerry got off the stage, the secret service made all the
photographers
> get off of the ground. Pool photographers up on the stage, everybody
else up
> on the risers. I'd never seen that much security. I wasn't sure I was
> getting anything good from there but I kept shooting, mostly because
> everybody else was still blazing away. I noticed they never took their
eyes
> away from their cameras. That must be how they ended up shooting for
the AP
> i guess. monkey see monkey do, so i shove my camera back to my eyeball
and
> pretty much fire any time i can see his face. The guy next to me has a
D1h
> and every time Kerry looks up, he gets off 8 or 10 frames to my 2.
lucky
> bastard. Anyway, in the end, it turned out that my best shot was not a
> closeup or a wide angle from 4 feet away, but the stuff i got from 40
yards
> away while he was working the crowd on his way out. Also, i got a lot
of
> personal satisfaction in the realization that I liked my shot better
than
> the Philadelphia Inquirers.
>
> http://www.asc.upenn.edu/usr/cassidy/pix/paw/2004/32/kerry4.jpg
>
> kc
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