[LRflex] Re: The Green Line. :-)
- From: Ted Grant <tedgrant@xxxxxxx>
- To: leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 18:00:09 -0700
Don't you just love it when you pull one off like that? Damn I love this
profession so! Unfortunately some folks have no idea what the hell we did or
got away with, but it has to be the greatest all round profession in the
world. :-)
A. For getting one into trouble. :-)
B. Getting one out of trouble! :-)
ted
Ted Grant Photography Limited
1817 Feltham Road
Victoria BC V8N 2A4
250-477-2156
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Saalsaa" <dsaalsaa@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2006 4:11 PM
Subject: [LRflex] Re: The Green Line. :-)
> great story, Ted. It made me smile as I remembered an occurrence while I
> was covering the Syttende Mai parade in Stoughton WI. for our local
> newspaper. I had forgotten to take my press pass to the parade and while
> looking for a great location to stand, I noticed some folks standing up on
> top of a three story building across the street. I watched as some others
> went in a side door and then appeared on top of the building . Aha, I had
> found the point of entry. I ambled across the street and up the three
> flights of stairs to a door ramping up through an open window to the roof.
> There were about a dozen people standing along side the roof edge to the
> best vantage point I could imagine. I spent about 20 minutes shooting and
> then left to go back down to street level. As I wandered down the stairs I
> saw a table of food laid out on the second floor of what looked like a
> antique furniture warehouse. I didn't see anyone else there so I went over
> to the table and grabbed a few hor's deorves. I was about to leave when a
> man said "who the hell are you "? I quickly turned around and I
> snapped
> back and who are you? He said I own this building. I said, great, I am
> doing a story on the parade for Aften Posten newspaper in Norway and would
> like to photograph you and get a story line from you if that is ok. He
> looked at me with some question but obliged and I took a couple of
> pictures
> of him and then got the hell out of there. I had crashed his private
> party
> and he had caught me red handed. . I did get some very nice pictures of
> the parade though. ;-)
>
> Dave
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ted Grant" <tedgrant@xxxxxxx>
> To: <leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2006 1:22 PM
> Subject: [LRflex] The Green Line. :-)
>
>
>> The Green Line
>>
>> Munich, Germany.1972 Summer Olympics:
>>
>>
>>
>> The security guard had Graham Bezant's accreditation card in one hand and
>> a
>> colour ID code book in the
>>
>> other. He was yelling in German and Graham was yelling back in his
>> Australian-accented English, neither understanding the other.
>>
>>
>>
>> It scared the hell out of me as I knew what was going on. Although
>> several
>>
>> positions back in the security line I figured they'd have me next.
>> Graham,
>> a
>> staff
>>
>> photographer for the Toronto Star, had just been caught witha forged
>> "Green
>> Line"
>>
>> on his Media accreditation card .
>>
>>
>>
>> I had initiated the forging, in fact the card hanging around my
>>
>> neck was also a faked photographer's pass. It wasn't that we didn't have
>>
>> accreditation, we did, but it was for the sport reporter seats, but
>> didn't
>>
>> allow access to the photo positions. The difference was a thin
>>
>> "Green Line" diagonally across the face of the card indicating you were a
>>
>> photographer.
>>
>>
>>
>> After a few days frustration attempting to shoot the Games with Reporter
>> Accreditation
>>
>> I wondered if I could fake a photo accreditation? After all it was only a
>> thin Green line.
>>
>>
>>
>> I examined a couple of photographer passes very carefully then hit on the
>> idea of using a felt tip
>>
>> marker to draw a "Green Line" on my pass. Searching all over Munich fora
>> pen of the right colour,
>>
>> just any green wouldn't work, the security staff had colour ID code
>> books
>>
>> with official colour keys. They rarely used them in any event. Until?
>>
>>
>>
>> After a few days searching I found one right under my nose in the Main
>> Press
>> Center boutique,
>>
>> exactly the perfect colour match.
>>
>>
>>
>> Do you remember the war movie "The Great Escape" when documents were
>>
>> forged to get out? We now started our plan "The Great Entry" to get in.
>>
>>
>>
>> Very carefully a single strip of scotch tape was placed diagonally across
>>
>> the card. The "Green Line" drawn on it rather than on the actual
>>
>> card surface, in the event of possible discovery it could be peeled
>>
>> off leaving a legitimate reporter's card. Two more strips placed on the
>>
>> first to give the correct width to the line, these were peeled off after
>>
>> the marker was used leaving clean edges to appear actually printed.
>>
>>
>>
>> Now for the colour, with one quick stroke of the marker it was done.
>>
>> Peeling off the two extra strips of tape I found myself holding a
>>
>> "Photographers Accreditation". I checked it against several legal
>> cards,
>> it matched beautifully.
>>
>> But it had yet to pass the big test, getting past the guards 20/20
>> vision.
>>
>>
>>
>> Here we were entering the Main Stadium with a couple of photographers as
>> some
>>
>> cover and Graham ahead of us in a shouting match with a security guy!
>> Damn!
>>
>> My first re-action was to peel off the plastic strip with the green line.
>>
>> However, what the hell give it a try, live dangerously!
>>
>>
>>
>> I passed the guards, my accreditation boldly hanging on a chain around
>>
>> my neck, I was in. It was so easy I couldn't believe it.
>>
>>
>>
>> Graham on the other hand was caught! As in "The Great Escape" if you were
>> caught
>>
>> you were on your own. I just walked on by without a glance.
>>
>>
>>
>> Some time you just gotta do what you gotta do to get your pictures.
>>
>>
>>
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>
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