The photograph of the alley is a good story. In January of 2008 I was assigned to try to photograph Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was going to speak at the Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ in the Northwest end of the city. Kilpatrick, who had recently been exposed as having an affair with his chief of staff and then lying about it in court, was going on television from the church to apologize for his actions. My co-workers had the two main entrances staked out, so I decided to stroll around the edge of the property. I overheard from some of the television guys that there was a service entrance at the end of the alley out back, so I decided to investigate. What I found was a pitch black, rocky, and barren strip of dirt leading to a small door, which you can see in the left side of the image. A dog barked from one of the homes lining the alley, and I hoped that there were no holes in the chain link fence. At this point it's important to mention that this was one of the coldest days of the year, in the single digits I think, and simply holding the camera can be difficult in those conditions. But I decided to wait. After what seemed like an eternity I received a text that said Kilpatrick had left his home, was en-route to the church, and was being followed by news helicopters. Slowly you could see the helicopters make their way across the city, like noisy owls flying through the dark, following their prey. At last you knew that he had arrived. the helicopters circled briefly, then flew off in random directions. And then there was nothing but the dark silence of a Detroit alley. I figured he went into a different door and was about to walk away, when a single car turned into the alley. It slowly made its way down the length of the drive and stopped in front of the door. With its headlights in my eyes it was difficult to see who was in the vehicle, but then a door opened and a very large man stepped out into the cold. And then he chuckled. "Just what the hell are you doing out here?", asked a Detroit police officer who, with his partner, was doing security sweep of the perimeter. I showed him my identification, and explained just what I was doing there. The two of them basically laughed at me and tried to figure out whether I was very brave or very stupid. Then they informed me that the Mayor had walked in through the front door and they offered to give me a ride back to the rest of the crowd.
The photo belies the amount of light that was available. This exposure was several seconds long and I think I steadied the camera on a dumpster. It took several attempts to get a frame that wasn't blurry, but I had lots of time while I waited.
The photograph of the alley is a good story. In January of 2008 I was assigned to try to photograph Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was going to speak at the Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ in the Northwest end of the city. Kilpatrick, who had recently been exposed as having an affair with his chief of staff and then lying about it in court, was going on television from the church to apologize for his actions. My co-workers had the two main entrances staked out, so I decided to stroll around the edge of the property. I overheard from some of the television guys that there was a service entrance at the end of the alley out back, so I decided to investigate. What I found was a pitch black, rocky, and barren strip of dirt leading to a small door, which you can see in the left side of the image. A dog barked from one of the homes lining the alley, and I hoped that there were no holes in the chain link fence. At this point it's important to mention that this was one of the coldest days of the year, in the single digits I think, and simply holding the camera can be difficult in those conditions. But I decided to wait. After what seemed like an eternity I received a text that said Kilpatrick had left his home, was en-route to the church, and was being followed by news helicopters. Slowly you could see the helicopters make their way across the city, like noisy owls flying through the dark, following their prey. At last you knew that he had arrived. the helicopters circled briefly, then flew off in random directions. And then there was nothing but the dark silence of a Detroit alley. I figured he went into a different door and was about to walk away, when a single car turned into the alley. It slowly made its way down the length of the drive and stopped in front of the door. With its headlights in my eyes it was difficult to see who was in the vehicle, but then a door opened and a very large man stepped out into the cold. And then he chuckled. "Just what the hell are you doing out here?", asked a Detroit police officer who, with his partner, was doing security sweep of the perimeter. I showed him my identification, and explained just what I was doing there. The two of them basically laughed at me and tried to figure out whether I was very brave or very stupid. Then they informed me that the Mayor had walked in through the front door and they offered to give me a ride back to the rest of the crowd.
ReplyDeleteThe photo belies the amount of light that was available. This exposure was several seconds long and I think I steadied the camera on a dumpster. It took several attempts to get a frame that wasn't blurry, but I had lots of time while I waited.