Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/06/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Jun 16, 2008, at 3:17 PM, Adam Bridge wrote: > So why did he comply with an illegal order anyway? He had no business > handing over film to anyone. > > Adam The photographer's first mistake may have been to comply with this paranoid harridan's demand that he follow her to a police officer, thereby lending some credence to her complaint. He should have ignored her and reacted in an offended and incredulous manner if she returned with an officer in tow. For sure, his biggest mistake was to hand over his film at all. That he was willing to do so to a private individual seems incredible to me. I'd like to think that I would have simply refused to allow this illegal and warrantless act of search and seizure and, if the cops gave me an ultimatum, either gone along quietly, making mental notes all the way (and written notes of the officers' badge numbers) or, if unwilling to be arrested, offered to turn over the film to the officers in exchange for a receipt. But under no circumstances would I have turned the film over to the complaining party. Of course, at age 63 I have a well-developed sense of self-right and enough experience of the world to have a sense of adventure and a feel for the worst that can happen. (I once simply took back a roll of Kodachrome from the table where it was sitting in front of the Syrian Army camp commander before whom I had been escorted at gunpoint after having taken photos of a billboard on a public road in front of his camp--but not photos of the camp--having made what I thought was a satisfactory case for my innocence and for being allowed to depart with the film. Apparently the case was indeed satisfactory, as Major Mohammed let me and my film go in peace.) The young photog in this case may not have had the confidence born of seasoning to stand his ground. Pity. --howard