Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/07/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 05:09 PM 7/15/2004 -0700, you wrote: >Cameras are allowed, and are welcome. I'm back from the citizenship ceremony. They took my Leicas away at the door. I had to walk through a metal detector built into the doorway of the new courthouse (which my knees didn't set off), they took away all cameras and cell phones and put everything else on a conveyor belt that went through an x-ray machine. Then they asked for photo IDs which, of course, were in whatever we sent through the x-ray machine. Everybody was complaining but the security guy just said "I'm following orders." We got upstairs to the first organization point - there were 77 people being sworn in and all of their relatives. After about an hour they announced that the judge had decided we could have our cameras after all so there was a mad stampede back downstairs to get our cameras, which they let us pick up without showing any identification and without putting through the x-ray machine. I had a large camera bag with two Leicas and a Bessa-L. We all trooped back upstairs and they took the prospective citizens into the courtroom on the third floor. After 15 minutes they said the relatives could go up, too. The only catch was that the courtroom was already full - not even any standing room. We all managed to squeeze and crowd together so that everybody fit in the room but there was no opportunity to take any photos. We had my 3 year old grandaughter and 5 month old grandson who came for their father's naturalization but the whole process lasted more than three hours and they were both exhausted and cranky and had to be carried out. I'm sure it was a beautiful ceremony if we could have seen or heard it! There were people there from 33 different countries. There was a very Christian invocation by a Baptist preacher. I wonder what impression that made on the new citizens who had to study the constitution and learn about separation of church and state. I won't be posting any photos from the ceremony since I'm sure I only got the backs of heads. Tina Tina Manley, ASMP www.tinamanley.com http://www.pdiphotos.com http://www.workbookstock.com http://www.newscom.com http://www.americanphotojournalist.com