[lit-ideas] Re: Paranoid with my Pentax in the morning
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:21:09 -0700
Robert,
Thanks, Bend sounds nice. I received two other recommendations, Payson
Arizona and some place in Pennsylvania. Susan is open to the idea of a
move, but the first place we checked, Big Bear, California, didn't turn up
any suitable houses. Also, the depressed housing market in California may
mean this would not be a good time to move. The ones closest to being
suitable were a lot more expensive than the one we live in. Ideally it
should be the other way around.
A friend predicted that the Public Relations officer, Muriel Dufresne would
not call me, that the security guard may not even have told her about me,
and that this was a ploy that the guards are taught to discourage
questionable passersby. If so it worked. I felt discouraged. I like to
walk around looking for trees and birds, not security guards.
As to Julie's suggestion that perhaps they wanted to use some of my photos,
I don't think there is much chance of that. The second time Sal came up to
question me I considered that possibility and asked if it would be possible
to go into the Golden Era Productions facility some time to take photos. He
very vehemently (while shaking his head rapidly from side to side) told me
that would never ever be possible.
The Area 51 comments may not be far off. I did a very brief check on Google
and discovered that Golden Era Productions has had some serious problems,
some involving law suits. A group of protestors back in 2008 claimed
Scientologists were holding members prisoner, and the spiked fences (which
they posted pictures of) were set up to keep them from escaping. There were
a couple of mysterious deaths. An autopsy found that one lady had several
animal bites on her body. Some protestors were beaten by security guards
and sued Scientology. An anti-Scientology site claimed that one guard was
especially brutal but in reality a coward because he ducked down when some
anti-Scientology people drove by and shot at his guard station. After
reading all that I felt much better about "can I help you" all the way up to
"have a nice day" from Sal.
As to the photos I took today, perhaps I spent more time experimenting with
my new lens than trying to take good pictures. There were only 4 I thought
worth posting. They are on page 7 of the August 2011 gallery. If you go to
where the 7 pages are listed and click on the down arrow you will be able to
select page 7. The photos from today are the last 4. Actually, the first
two from today were essentially the same spot, but because Sal took up so
much of my time the sun had come up over the mountains by the time I walked
back by that spot. There is one shot of a hawk which I could have left out,
and then the last one which is of a winding dirt road I liked.
Lawrence
From: Robert Paul
Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2011 3:39 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Paranoid with my Pentax in the morning
Lawrence,
There used to be somebody in charge of paranoia here, but he was last seen
being forcibly loaded into a black helicopter. Here's what I know: you may
photograph private property-homes. storefronts, industrial sites-from public
spaces, but you'll need permission to photograph on private property. If
you'd climbed a fence put up by Golden Era Productions, to get a better view
of their site (or even some wildflowers on their property) you'd need their
consent.
Whether you could publish, online, or elsewhere, pictures of their site you
took legally from a public space, I don't know. My hunch is that you could,
unless some of their employees were identifiable
in the picture. It's pretty clear that I could walk through downtown
Portland, take photos of storefronts, street signs, parking meters, and so
on, and then publish them on a website, a magazine, or elsewhere without
first getting permission from the store owners or the City of Portland to do
it.
When it comes to photographing people who are clearly identifiable in the
picture, and publishing it, then, even though you and your subject were both
in a public space, things change; but that
isn't what you were doing. As for Area 51, you're on your own.
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/Area_51_and_other_Facilities.php
Thanks for the great account of your encounter. Maybe somewhere near Bend
OR, would suit you, although it's usually colder there than in San Jacinto.
Or so I'm told.
http://www.ci.bend.or.us/about_bend/index.html
Robert Paul
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