Cameradventures: Shooting In “Black & White”

This isn’t as much a confession as it is a retelling of an irritating, yet eye-opening experience I had about five years ago (my second year as a serious photographer).  However, my thoughts years later are what led me to the title, “Shooting In Black & White”, of which I’m sure you’ll understand shortly.

If you read my post back in August, “My 10 Commandments As A Photographer” you might remember my 4th commandment: “Remember The Scheduled Day And Keep Your Commitment” (thank God I didn’t get struck by lightning for blasphemy, although that would have been a great photo opportunity for anyone standing nearby, ready with a camera).  The following tale partly serves as its inspiration…

Let’s get to it, shall we?

Cameradventures: Shooting In “Black & White”

I was scheduled to meet with a couple and their son who had recently reached his 1-year birthday at a shopping complex in Columbus, Ohio.  Our appointment time was 10 a.m. (with mall security’s permission).  This time was great because it was before the crowds would fill the scene, making the shoot quite difficult for the trick photography we had planned.  They wanted a “Clark Kent / Superman” themed photo shoot, as we had just photographed his birthday party with the same concept.

I suggested this center as the location because although there were only 100,000 telephone booths remaining in the United States, it had one of them.  As an added bonus, it was colored red, one of Superman’s colors.

This was also the location of my first “model” shoot months prior, when I began shooting as more than a hobby.

My plan was to take shots of him posed “in flight” with his father holding him up.  I would take several shots and edit his father out of the photo to give the appearance of him flying alone, out of the booth.  We were going to take a few shots beforehand, with him removing his shirt and glasses while in the booth like Clark Kent.

The bottom right picture (above) wasn’t used, but that was the bold color scheme. 

 Even though I was young in the ways of photography and still learning, I was proud of this project.

Of course, you always wish you knew back then, what you know now.

Above is a mid-edited, unfinished test shot before we scrapped the “flight” idea.  The child got a little nervous, being held high and tossed (only) a few inches, even when his mother tried it. I’m also a believer that a photo shoot should never put anyone at risk, especially children (so his father crouched next to her as backup).  Sadly, we never got around to changing his direction, position and angle so he could fly OUT of the booth.  Shame though.  I liked where we were headed and looking back, I know we could have pulled it off successfully with a little more preparation. Again, if only I knew back then what I know now.

We had a great shoot, but I was unnoticeably frustrated because of what had transpired a month prior, which is the real story.  This shoot had been rescheduled because they had to cancel at the last minute, the day of the original session.  Actually, I was notified about 60 minutes after the shoot appointment time.  Don’t get me wrong, things happen and I wasn’t angry with the family, just a tad perturbed that I didn’t know until so late after the arranged time.  Still, it was my decision to wait for so long, although nowadays, I do discuss a cut-off time with my clients and penalty fees.  No, what bothered me, and still does a bit to this day, is what happened after the rescheduling…

[Insert Quentin Tarantino “Time Jump” heading]
ONE MONTH BEFORE…

I decided to kill some time after the phone call to postpone and take a few pictures of the surrounding area for future ideas.  I did so for about 15 minutes, then packed up to head home.  When I reached the corner of the block before the parking lot, I was stopped by two security guards who asked if they could speak with me for a minute.  As they asked what I was photographing, I politely answered their question while respectfully adding that I wasn’t doing anything wrong, nor anything different than any other photographer.  As we were talking, two security cars pulled up, along with four other security guards on bike and foot.  I soon found myself surrounded by them in a semi-circle with my back against a window filled with observing restaurant customers.  When they asked if they could see pictures, I reminded that I didn’t have to show them, but agreed to, so as to deescalate the brewing situation.

At this point, I’m sure you’re thinking that I should have exercised my right to refuse and done so, but I had thought quickly and heavily about the big picture.  Attempting to walk away would only have led to unnecessary detainment and possible banning from the mall area as a photographer, whether or not I was within my rights.

…and I really liked shooting there. 

Of course I could have gone the route of The Defiant Ones (I love movie titles), then taken legal action, but I didn’t think all of that was worth the hassle, especially since I could simply speak with mall management and voice my concern.  But trust me, “ghetto” Kenny wanted to tell them to do something that was anatomically impossible and walk off.  No disrespect, but that’s what I was feeling in the moment.

Before showing them, I asked why it was so important that they see my photos and they answered that they had received THREE phone calls that “I” was taking pictures of little children (which is funny, not funny, because I was photographing stores/buildings/layouts for background ideas, not the play area). After explaining the canceled photo shoot and informing them that I was both offended and enraged by the accusation, I showed them the photos, which I refused to delete. They apologized and explained that three weeks prior, someone HAD been taking pictures of little girls, to which I answered, “man with a camera doesn’t always mean PERVERT”.  By this point, there were onlookers, video recording with their smartphones from across the street.  This prompted me to mention that this all was ridiculous, acknowledging the unnecessary number of guards “in my face”.  I hadn’t gotten very long into voicing my dissatisfaction before an older white man across the street yelled, “they wouldn’t be doing this if you were a small WHITE woman!”

That was interesting because there was a short, petite white woman with a camera, leaving as I first arrived. And it was clear to everyone watching that I was a photographer, carrying the whole nine: tripod, backpack, softbox, etc.

Hmmmmm…

[Pause]

This made me wonder. WAS general appearance, specifically RACE, truly a factor? Would that have happened if I was a younger, smaller-framed Caucasian female? What if I was just a Black female?  I shared the occurrence with several colleagues in photography and several agreed that my classifications could very well have been a factor and they were confident it wouldn’t have happened to them.  It’s actually kind of funny, as well as mildly comforting, when someone who ISN’T Black, references the term “White Privilege”.

I thought back on the times in Florida and Maryland when people (in groups) used to walk “across the street” when I walked towards them on dimly lit streets.  I even called home once and told my mother, questioning why.  She simply told me to put my hoodie on (years before the Trayvon Martin tragedy, may he rest in peace), turn off the bathroom light and look in the mirror.  She then asked me what I would do if I saw him coming towards me.

Damn.  I was 6′ tall and broad-shouldered; larger than I was during my college years because I had begun working out and had quickly filled in the “bony” gaps.  It wasn’t personal, it was the appearance.  But to me, that MADE it personal.  I would sooner HUG a stranger than snarl at him.  But that’s not what others perceived.  Hell, one time, as I was walking down the sidewalk, a woman in her parked car quickly slapped the lock down on her car door as I walked by.  Without even stopping or looking at her, I told her that it wouldn’t work unless her window was rolled up.  So yeah, I guess a large man with a tiny camera can look a bit awkward.  Sad and wrong, but true.

But don’t tell me that my skin color is never a factor. Whether or not it applied to this incident.

Ok, back to the story…

I could tell that the guards were now beginning to realize how this was starting to look to passersby.  Here I was, a very large-framed (in fact, quite overweight), limping, 47-year-old who wasn’t going to run if lions were chasing him, dealing with a situation that could easily have been resolved with a simple Q&A with just one person.

They let me go, apologizing again as I shook my head and walked away after asking for management’s contact information.

I later contacted management and we discussed the matter, which led to more apologies (truth-be-told, at this point, unless you’re going to give me a $2,500 shopping spree to your center and several Cameron Mitchell dinners for two, I don’t really need any more “sorrys”).  They did offer information that I should have been told the first time around.  They said commercial photography was not permitted without prior consent of management and that people have been known to photograph businesses in preparation for robberies.  Now THAT would have gone much smoother with me during the confrontation and it didn’t require the entire Cincinnati Bengals offensive line to be present.

In the end, for my trouble they granted me permission to shoot exclusively in the morning, before/as businesses opened and without interruption so we could have an effective session, which I did appreciate.  And as I mentioned before, I was now in their good graces, should I decide to shoot in the future.  I definitely didn’t want to lose the freedom to shoot there after hours, either.

Since the event, I’ve received mixed opinions on how people would have responded but in the end, they all understood and agreed that my approach was best for me and my needs.  Besides, I’d be more inclined to have a discussion with the so-called “whistle blowers” who felt it their civic duty to call the authorities on me to begin with.  The number of calls is what bothered me more than anything else. 

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In the end, we had a good shoot.  It’s just unfortunate that I had to be reminded of a personal phrase that I taught my children years ago (my personal phrase, so pay me royalties if you use it):

“Try as you might to see the world in shades of gray, on some days, some of those shades choose to become or see only one of two colors.  You know what they are…”

I think no one has said it before, at least not in that context.

I’d love to think that that was an isolated incident and will never happen to me or anyone else (like me) again.  But as idealistic as I am, I need to be realistic, for myself and my children.  You see it’s happened to me before, in various situations, and to my friends. Even so far as being contacted “in confidence” and informed that some people didn’t want to hire me, because of my color.  I can but won’t go into those tales. This should suffice.

Anyway, thankfully this doesn’t happen often, although it HAS happened more than once, a lot more overt. That’s why I’m always on alert, because this is what can happen, when “shooting in black or white”.

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