Bob: It's a good thing you're in London, rather than New York, or you would be dead twice by now!
Bob Walkden wrote: > Hi, > > > Don't complain, Boris. Over here, the moms pull out their celphone and call > > the cops to complain about he pedophile taking pictures of they kids. > > I had a couple mildly of amusing incidents this weekend. I was in a > very beautiful travel bookshop in London on Saturday, which is > illuminated from above by natural light streaming in through an > atrium. It's a lovely, old wood-panelled place. Sitting among stacks > of books about Paris was a distinguished old gentleman in a black > beret. I had a camera with me so I wandered past him, took a light > reading, wandered back again and took the first frame, intending to > walk around him, shooting quietly and discreetly. > > Next thing I know there's this woman standing right in my face. > > She: Do have permission to photograph in here? > Me: No. Do you work here? > She (now very agressive): No. Why are you taking my photo? > Me: (getting narked): Because that's what I do. I don't have to > explain myself to you. > She: It's illegal to photograph in a private place. > Me: Madam, it is not. Check your law. Besides I don't give a damn. > > She then storms off in a huff. I was extremely angry but trying not to > tell her to f--- off. She'd ruined my shot by now of course, so I > stared at some bookshelves trying to calm down. A couple of minutes > later one of the people who runs the shop pottered over to me. She > undoubtedly recognised me as someone who has bought several hundred > pounds worth of books off them. > > She: Did you take a photograph in here? > Me: Yes, I did. That woman overreacted. > She: Yes, she did. > > End of conversation. > > Later that same afternoon I went down the Tube to get a train a couple > of stops. I've lived in London for a long time, and like all Londoners > I walk quickly, directly and forcefully through crowds. But right now > I can only walk slowly because I have some sort of problem with my > hip. So I was on a crowded platform, the train was in and the doors > were open. It was very crowded because it was Saturday in the West > End, and people were being diverted because of a derailment elsewhere > on the system. So I was hobbling slowly along the platform looking for > a carriage with some space. Behind me I heard a guy say to his wife, > in French "Let's get in the next one", which is where I was heading. > Then I hear him say, again in French, "when we get past this c--t". So > I stepped half into the door, blocking him, and glared at him so he knew > I understood what he'd said, and just let the doors close while I got > in and left him and Mme. standing cursing at me on the platform. I was > a bit annoyed that I didn't give him a mouthful of the language I > learned when I worked on a building site in Bordeaux. Still, har, har, > har. I know that probably makes me sound like a shit, but the guy > obviously thought nobody in England understands French, and he was > being really pushy when it was obvious I was limping, so I felt > justified and it cheered me up no end after the woman in the shop! > Probably a Parisian! <g> > > >> IMHO, photography suffers seriously because only very specific kind of > >> photography is seen by the general average public. > > I went with some friends to the Natural History Museum today and by > chance there is a very large exhibition in the grounds, in open air, > of photographs from 'Earth From the Air' by Yann-Arthus Bertrand (so I > guess the French aren't all bad :o)). The images are very large, and > superbly printed. The whole area was buzzing because the photos are so > good. A great way to bring good photography to a lot of people. > > --- > > Bob -- Daniel J. Matyola mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Stanley, Powers & Matyola mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Suite203, 1170 US Highway 22 East http://geocities.com/dmatyola/ Bridgewater, NJ 08807 (908)725-3322 fax: (908)707-0399
