[Leica] a domke vest and a little moxie

[Kyle Cassidy <KCassidy@asc.upenn.edu>]

twiggy posted a fantastic example of what we, in the PLUG, refer to as the
domke vest and a little moxie effect.

>for instance while walking times square i found myself surrounded by
>police while they arrested somebody who presumably tried to rob a store. 
>Because i carried the f580200combo the police let me just stand there
>while the sidewalk was cleared and cordoned off.Obviously they believed >me
to be press.And the beast was able to make 25 shots of which i >scanned one
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=427149 

the best example i have of it was when i went to a political ralley with a
domke vest and a monopod and was standing in the cheap seats hoping to get a
dinky shot of some tiny guy half a mile away when some bruiser grabs me by
the arm and says "hey! you know better than that! no press in this area!" i
protested, but he dragged me up into the photo pit where i met -- Sal
DiMarco for the first time. i got good shots of the candidate from about
four feet away and i wasn't even trying, that was just the vest, no moxie
involved a'tall.

though, conversely, this issue of National Press Photographer has an article
about photojournalists being illegally forced from public highways and
private yards (where they were with permission of the owner) and one even
arrested during the recent bridge collapse. the mayor of the town quickly
appologised and chastised the officers involved. saying (i'm paraphrasing)
"they were just trying to enforce the rules, without knowing what the rules
were." 

but i'm sure the real photographers on the list will tell you that you can
stand on a public street and take photos of whoever you want without the
police being able to (legally) tell you to get lost, as long as you're not
in their way or endangering someone, snap away. a free press keeps tyranny
at bay.

kc
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