YFZ Revisited - April 4, 2008
November 7, 2008 | 2 Comments
Just minutes after I photographed the food I noticed that a bus had pulled up down the street. Even in the dark I could see the heads of children on the bus.
It was really dark, but I had a fast 50/1.4 lens that would let me shoot without flash. I quickly snapped the photo above as a test frame to check my exposure. The women and children walked to the First Baptist Church and I clicked off twenty quick frames in the dark.
That photo ended up being used all over the place. Looking through all twenty frames, I see that some of the children noticed me and others appeared not to. Here are more frames, some of which have never been published before:
I wrote this about the technical aspect of shooting the photo on the blog back in April:
A few notes about the photo, which I feel captures an historic moment in the FLDS story. First, there had to be some sensitivity in the taking of the photograph. Luckily, I brought along a 50/1.4 lens so that I wouldn’t need to use flash. Popping a flash at children who were just taken from their parents and homes would not have been compassionate. Like a good backpacker, I wanted to leave a minimal footprint. So I shot available light, something like 1/30th at f1.4 at ISO 800. Maybe when I’m actually awake I’ll actually tone and sharpen it for you, but it’s been a long day.
Back then I also wrote a bit about how the volunteers (and knowing more now, CPS) didn’t want me there and definitely didn’t want any photographs taken. But we were standing on a public sidewalk so there was little they could do.
Immediately after shooting this sequence I walked across the street to the car and began sending photos back to the office, just ahead of deadline. Then I went back to look for more photo possibilities. You can see how the doors to this room of the church have vertical slit windows. I could see the occasional FLDS woman through these windows but before I got a shot off a short-haired woman with light-colored pants (she’s in the last two photos above) approached me with several other locals. One was the mayor of Eldorado. They were very angry at my presence.
The mayor asked who I was and what I was doing there. I told him. The woman asked if I had taken any photos. I said yes. Around this point an officer led me off to the side away from the group and told me that while he knew I had every right to photograph from the sidewalk, these locals were really pissed off that I was there and if I stayed much longer, he wouldn’t be able to guarantee my safety.
We evaluated the situation and decided to leave, knowing we had the shot (which would run across the entire width of the next day’s front page) and knowing we would be back early in the morning. I wrote this back then about us leaving:
Some of the volunteers at the church clearly didn’t want me taking photographs. They were good people looking out for the FLDS, who are very private people. I can understand their feelings. But this is an important story. I try to work with the same compassion they were feeling for the children. Once we had the photo, we left. In the morning we’ll go back and hopefully it will be more obvious that while we’re serious journalists, we’re not “THE MEDIA.”
My perception has changed substantially from what I wrote then. While there were privacy expectations (as there would be in any child-protective action), the story of the YFZ Raid was heavily media-managed from the start. In some cases they were following official policy and/or state law, but Texas officials would limit access to the photography of this story nearly every step of the way.
Revisiting the YFZ Raid
November 5, 2008 | 2 Comments
For months I have been putting off the task of editing my photos from Texas’ raid on the FLDS Yearning For Zion (YFZ) ranch in Eldorado. I just couldn’t bring myself to look again. To this day, over 100 gigabytes of my photographs from four months of work have not had a proper edit. I backed them up several times for safekeeping and let them sit.
The prospect of going through these photographs is daunting on so many levels. For one, I feel a huge responsibility to history. But the real reason I’d been avoiding the edit is that covering the raid took a huge toll on me emotionally. And this next sentence isn’t any opinion on whether the raid was right or wrong, or whether polygamy is right or wrong, or whether the FLDS are right or wrong:
The raid on the YFZ Ranch, the removal of 460+ children and all that came after was very painful for all involved. Whatever side you’re on (if you think the children were rightfully removed due to abuse or if you think they were wrongfully removed due to persecution), this was a tragic event to witness. Seeing families broken up, for justified or unjustified reasons, has shaken me. It was tough.
I opened up the first folder of images this morning. They were pictures from the first day, just a few dozen photographs taken late the night we arrived in Eldorado. It can’t be that bad, I thought, only thirty-two images to look through.
I was wrong.
I only got halfway through before I couldn’t go any further. Once I saw that iconic photograph of the young FLDS women and children walking through the dark, carrying bundles and babies toward the First Baptist Church, the emotions swelled up and I could not continue. Maybe I’ll try again tomorrow.
The first eleven photos seem mundane but they have turned out to be quite interesting now that we know what happened. They show two volunteers (who, I should note, did not want to be photographed) unloading groceries and diapers for the FLDS children being brought to the church-turned-shelter.
That first night, I didn’t realize that FLDS children from YFZ didn’t eat the food that modern American eats: processed foods, potato chips, etc. They eat almost a completely organic, mostly vegetarian diet.
Only days later would stories emerge of the children getting sick in shelters, their bodies having to adjust from their all-natural diets to the modern food provided by the state in the shelters.
Texas officials claimed they would provide a healthier environment for the children than what they had at home on the YFZ Ranch, and then handed out bags of Doritos.
Hildale From Outer Space
November 4, 2008 | 1 Comment
Have I said this before? That I would be a rich man if only I’d started a wall-building company in Short Creek five years ago?
As camera crews from all over the world invaded the twin towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona chasing the story of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs and his FLDS followers, the people of the community found ways to preserve their privacy. Like building walls around their homes.
Photo from Google Maps
I think this desire for privacy from prying eyes is a natural thing, whether or not you’re living an illegal lifestyle. The walls have always fascinated me and I’ve spent a lot of time photographing them.
There are amazing photographs that could be made in the FLDS community. But for all the time I’ve spent photographing, those amazing photos always seem to be just out of reach. There are a number of reasons for that. One is the distance. It’s been difficult for me to travel that far south for any length of time this year.
I was in Short Creek last month for just a single day. It felt good to get the rental car coated in red, rusty dust as I drove around town. But the trip was too short.
This morning I’m at home in my slippers cruising the streets of Short Creek, thanks to technology. I just noticed that Google Maps has recently upgraded their satellite coverage of Hildale. You can now zoom in with extreme clarity and count the number of trampolines in backyards behind the privacy walls. They haven’t upgraded the coverage of Colorado City yet so on the Arizona side things get really fuzzy, as this screenshot shows:
Photo from Google Maps
I’m still not seeing any people outside, but once I’ve got the kids’ lunches made and sent them off to school this morning I’ll pour myself a bowl of Lucky Charms and take another quick trip through Hildale.
Advancing Sports Photography
November 3, 2008 | 1 Comment
I had this amazing idea for advancing the technology of sports photography.
1. A sensor is inserted into the ball.
2. A million times a second, a microprocessor in my camera calculates the distance from the “film plane” to the sensor and focuses accordingly.
2A. Thus, the ball is always in focus.
The photo above shows the inherent flaw in my technology.
Okay, re-write…
1. A sensor is inserted into Chivas USA defender Carey Talley’s face…
Patent applied for.
Real Salt Lake’s Miracle Goal
November 2, 2008 | 1 Comment
Yura Movsisyan did it again. For the second straight week, the striker scored a miracle goal in the 90th minute for Real Salt Lake - this time giving the team a stunning 1-0 victory over Chivas USA in the first Major League Soccer playoff game in franchise history.
Focus, lens choice, position. Sometimes it all works.
