Behind the Viewfinder - Susan Markisz - January 29, 1999
Behind the Viewfinder - Susan Markisz - January 29, 1999
Behind the Viewfinder - Susan Markisz - January 29, 1999
Behind the Viewfinder - Susan Markisz - January 29, 1999
Behind the Viewfinder - Susan Markisz - January 29, 1999
Behind the Viewfinder - Susan Markisz - January 29, 1999
Behind the Viewfinder - Susan Markisz - January 29, 1999
Behind the Viewfinder - Susan Markisz - January 29, 1999
Behind the Viewfinder - Susan Markisz - January 29, 1999
Behind the Viewfinder - Susan Markisz - January 29, 1999
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Let Me Take This Call
It was 12 degrees out with one of those ridiculously low wind chill factors,
and I was still recovering from a severe bout of the flu. My eyes were
tearing, my nose was running, I was losing sensation in my fingertips
and I was beginning to worry that I was going to come up empty on this
assignment. By the way, did you ever wonder how the weather people came
up with those wind chill numbers,("It's 12 degrees with a wind chill of
minus 40, so it feels like minus 60!" How do they know, by the way how
cold it feels to you and me?) Anyway...
A few weeks ago I received a page to do an assignment for the Business
section. The editor told me he needed a picture of a cabdriver with a
cellphone. He told me it was an illustration so I could stop and ask cabbies
if they had cellphones. In other words, I didn't have to stalk one out
with a telephoto lens.
When I work for the Big Newspaper, I sometimes get a faxed assignment
request (if I'm home). Mostly though, I get paged and the details are
given to me over the phone. This assignment had come to me by way of the
telephone, the night before, and I had had the whole night to think about
it. I'd asked the editor how many people he wanted me to photograph and
if there were any other particulars I needed to know. It seemed straightforward
enough. The editor told me that if I nailed it on the first one, all he
needed was one person.
The way I figured it was this: If they're doing a story on cabbies with
cell phones, there must be a lot of them, right? How hard could it be?
New York City must be filled with them. I've been known to ask one too
many questions when it comes to assignments, so much so that I've been
asked on more than one occasion: "Markisz, did you hear what I said?"
Ok, so I'm slow. I was confident that this was going to be a piece of
cake. I'll drive down to Broadway in midtown and hail a few cabs. If that
doesn't work, I'll walk over to the Hilton or to one of the other big
hotels. Hey, this is New York.
At 10 am the next morning, on Broadway and 54th, I flagged down half
a dozen cabbies and not one had a cell phone. Fifteen minutes into my
search, I was frozen, feeling faint, and having heart palpitations. It
wasn't working out quite like I'd anticipated, and I feared I was getting
a relapse of the flu.
I meandered over to a small hotel on W. 54th Street and there happened
to be a half dozen cabs waiting in line for fares. The first person I
asked was a woman ---with a cell phone! A willing subject, Ms. Rajni Tak
let me warm up in her cab, while my frozen fingers numbingly searched
for the shutter while she used her cell phone. I asked her a few questions,
like what company do you work for? are you self employed? what do you
primarily use your cellular phone for? where do you live? I asked what
I thought were pertinent questions and went on to find a second subject
just to cover my bases. I walked to the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue and
54th Street, to find at least a dozen cabdrivers waiting in line along
Sixth Avenue. I went to each and every cabdriver in that line, and not
one of them had a cell phone.
I began to wonder what this story was about anyway. I went into the Hilton
to defrost for a little while and then I made my way back to my car, which
was parked along Broadway. Passing the same hotel as before, I found another
cab driver, this time a man named Baldiner Singh who let me photograph
him with his cellular phone.
At this point I was nearly passing out, but managed to get downtown to
the office with my film. I called the editor and told him the film was
in the drink. I had an alternative picture in mind, one that I'd taken
while in Europe in November, if the story was more global in scope. The
editor told me he was interested in seeing it ---and that I should transmit
it later in the afternoon---but it probably was more of a national story.
He then asked me: "You did get the model type of cellular phones that
they were using and the type of plans that they have, didn't you?"
"Uh, what?" I gulped.
As I recall, I mumbled something unintelligible.
"I did tell you that this is a story on cellular phone use, not cabbies
and cellular phones, right?" he asked me. We just thought it would be
good to illustrate the story with a cabdriver.
"Just shoot me now," I thought.
Not one to admit defeat, I figured I had to salvage this somehow without
having to go out and reshoot it. I needed to go back home to bed. I called
directory assistance in Queens to see if there was a Baldiner Singh listed.
There were two thousand of them.
When the editor came up to the lab to look at the film, one of the staffers
asked me what I'd just photographed. I launched into a Seinfeldesque version
of this story, to which the staffer said: "You know she's busting your
chops, don't you??? (although he used somewhat different language) to
which the editor replied: "She's 100% right, I hadn't given her enough
information."
Fortunately, Ms. Rajni Tak had asked me when the story was going to run.
She had asked me if I would call her and let her know. OK, SUSAN, WHERE
WAS THAT PIECE OF PAPER, THE ONE WITH HER CELLULAR PHONE NUMBER ON IT?
In my pocket was a crumpled piece of paper. 14K gold! I called her and
was able to get the model type, and the type of cell phone plan, all of
which eventually went with the caption information underneath her photograph,
which ran a few days later.
It all ended on a happy note, thanks to the serendipitous request of
Ms. Tak for the pub date.
Unfortunately, my alternative picture, which I thought was pretty funny,
didn't run. when I was in Europe in November, it seemed that virtually
all Europeans had cell phones. People walking and talking on their cell
phones, people eating and talking on their cell phones; people driving
and talking, people in churches and museums talking on their cell phones.
It didn't occur to me that this might be a story in the making, but I
did, I thought, get the quintessential European cellular phone picture...a
Venetian gondolier with his cell phone, while his clients wait impatiently
for him to finish his conversation and get on with the business of taking
them for a ride. I respectfully submit my Venetian gondolier rather than
my New York Cabbie. Although the scope of the story was not international,
this was a better picture.
"Let Me Take This Call" November 13, 1999 copyright Susan
B. Markisz
Milton
hands me two Nikon F4's and an assortment of lenses and
assigns staff photographer Evan Schneider to accompany me
on my first assignment in the GA
We've
all had to do our share of one computer genius/computer
programmer/computer innovator/computer geek photograph after
another... and it begs the question: How many ways can you
shoot a computer without taking out a double barreled shotgun?
Photography
enabled me to bring my own vision and interpretation to
the canvas, at first fairly effortlessly, at least compared
to what it had been like trying to eek out an image from
a glob of burnt sienna to replicate a paper bag still-life.
Behind
the Viewfinder - A Year in the Life of Photojournalism
http://www.digitalstoryteller.com/YITL
This site is protected by United States Copyright
Laws
Website Design Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 F.R."Fritz"
Nordengren Digital Storyteller
Let Me Take This Call
It was 12 degrees out with one of those ridiculously low wind chill factors,
and I was still recovering from a severe bout of the flu. My eyes were
tearing, my nose was running, I was losing sensation in my fingertips
and I was beginning to worry that I was going to come up empty on this
assignment. By the way, did you ever wonder how the weather people came
up with those wind chill numbers,("It's 12 degrees with a wind chill of
minus 40, so it feels like minus 60!" How do they know, by the way how
cold it feels to you and me?) Anyway...
A few weeks ago I received a page to do an assignment for the Business
section. The editor told me he needed a picture of a cabdriver with a
cellphone. He told me it was an illustration so I could stop and ask cabbies
if they had cellphones. In other words, I didn't have to stalk one out
with a telephoto lens.
When I work for the Big Newspaper, I sometimes get a faxed assignment
request (if I'm home). Mostly though, I get paged and the details are
given to me over the phone. This assignment had come to me by way of the
telephone, the night before, and I had had the whole night to think about
it. I'd asked the editor how many people he wanted me to photograph and
if there were any other particulars I needed to know. It seemed straightforward
enough. The editor told me that if I nailed it on the first one, all he
needed was one person.
The way I figured it was this: If they're doing a story on cabbies with
cell phones, there must be a lot of them, right? How hard could it be?
New York City must be filled with them. I've been known to ask one too
many questions when it comes to assignments, so much so that I've been
asked on more than one occasion: "Markisz, did you hear what I said?"
Ok, so I'm slow. I was confident that this was going to be a piece of
cake. I'll drive down to Broadway in midtown and hail a few cabs. If that
doesn't work, I'll walk over to the Hilton or to one of the other big
hotels. Hey, this is New York.
At 10 am the next morning, on Broadway and 54th, I flagged down half
a dozen cabbies and not one had a cell phone. Fifteen minutes into my
search, I was frozen, feeling faint, and having heart palpitations. It
wasn't working out quite like I'd anticipated, and I feared I was getting
a relapse of the flu.
I meandered over to a small hotel on W. 54th Street and there happened
to be a half dozen cabs waiting in line for fares. The first person I
asked was a woman ---with a cell phone! A willing subject, Ms. Rajni Tak
let me warm up in her cab, while my frozen fingers numbingly searched
for the shutter while she used her cell phone. I asked her a few questions,
like what company do you work for? are you self employed? what do you
primarily use your cellular phone for? where do you live? I asked what
I thought were pertinent questions and went on to find a second subject
just to cover my bases. I walked to the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue and
54th Street, to find at least a dozen cabdrivers waiting in line along
Sixth Avenue. I went to each and every cabdriver in that line, and not
one of them had a cell phone.
I began to wonder what this story was about anyway. I went into the Hilton
to defrost for a little while and then I made my way back to my car, which
was parked along Broadway. Passing the same hotel as before, I found another
cab driver, this time a man named Baldiner Singh who let me photograph
him with his cellular phone.
At this point I was nearly passing out, but managed to get downtown to
the office with my film. I called the editor and told him the film was
in the drink. I had an alternative picture in mind, one that I'd taken
while in Europe in November, if the story was more global in scope. The
editor told me he was interested in seeing it ---and that I should transmit
it later in the afternoon---but it probably was more of a national story.
He then asked me: "You did get the model type of cellular phones that
they were using and the type of plans that they have, didn't you?"
"Uh, what?" I gulped.
As I recall, I mumbled something unintelligible.
"I did tell you that this is a story on cellular phone use, not cabbies
and cellular phones, right?" he asked me. We just thought it would be
good to illustrate the story with a cabdriver.
"Just shoot me now," I thought.
Not one to admit defeat, I figured I had to salvage this somehow without
having to go out and reshoot it. I needed to go back home to bed. I called
directory assistance in Queens to see if there was a Baldiner Singh listed.
There were two thousand of them.
When the editor came up to the lab to look at the film, one of the staffers
asked me what I'd just photographed. I launched into a Seinfeldesque version
of this story, to which the staffer said: "You know she's busting your
chops, don't you??? (although he used somewhat different language) to
which the editor replied: "She's 100% right, I hadn't given her enough
information."
Fortunately, Ms. Rajni Tak had asked me when the story was going to run.
She had asked me if I would call her and let her know. OK, SUSAN, WHERE
WAS THAT PIECE OF PAPER, THE ONE WITH HER CELLULAR PHONE NUMBER ON IT?
In my pocket was a crumpled piece of paper. 14K gold! I called her and
was able to get the model type, and the type of cell phone plan, all of
which eventually went with the caption information underneath her photograph,
which ran a few days later.
It all ended on a happy note, thanks to the serendipitous request of
Ms. Tak for the pub date.
Unfortunately, my alternative picture, which I thought was pretty funny,
didn't run. when I was in Europe in November, it seemed that virtually
all Europeans had cell phones. People walking and talking on their cell
phones, people eating and talking on their cell phones; people driving
and talking, people in churches and museums talking on their cell phones.
It didn't occur to me that this might be a story in the making, but I
did, I thought, get the quintessential European cellular phone picture...a
Venetian gondolier with his cell phone, while his clients wait impatiently
for him to finish his conversation and get on with the business of taking
them for a ride. I respectfully submit my Venetian gondolier rather than
my New York Cabbie. Although the scope of the story was not international,
this was a better picture.
"Let Me Take This Call" November 13, 1999 copyright Susan
B. Markisz
Milton
hands me two Nikon F4's and an assortment of lenses and
assigns staff photographer Evan Schneider to accompany me
on my first assignment in the GA
We've
all had to do our share of one computer genius/computer
programmer/computer innovator/computer geek photograph after
another... and it begs the question: How many ways can you
shoot a computer without taking out a double barreled shotgun?
Photography
enabled me to bring my own vision and interpretation to
the canvas, at first fairly effortlessly, at least compared
to what it had been like trying to eek out an image from
a glob of burnt sienna to replicate a paper bag still-life.
Behind
the Viewfinder - A Year in the Life of Photojournalism
http://www.digitalstoryteller.com/YITL
This site is protected by United States Copyright
Laws
Website Design Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 F.R."Fritz"
Nordengren Digital Storyteller
Let Me Take This Call
It was 12 degrees out with one of those ridiculously low wind chill factors,
and I was still recovering from a severe bout of the flu. My eyes were
tearing, my nose was running, I was losing sensation in my fingertips
and I was beginning to worry that I was going to come up empty on this
assignment. By the way, did you ever wonder how the weather people came
up with those wind chill numbers,("It's 12 degrees with a wind chill of
minus 40, so it feels like minus 60!" How do they know, by the way how
cold it feels to you and me?) Anyway...
A few weeks ago I received a page to do an assignment for the Business
section. The editor told me he needed a picture of a cabdriver with a
cellphone. He told me it was an illustration so I could stop and ask cabbies
if they had cellphones. In other words, I didn't have to stalk one out
with a telephoto lens.
When I work for the Big Newspaper, I sometimes get a faxed assignment
request (if I'm home). Mostly though, I get paged and the details are
given to me over the phone. This assignment had come to me by way of the
telephone, the night before, and I had had the whole night to think about
it. I'd asked the editor how many people he wanted me to photograph and
if there were any other particulars I needed to know. It seemed straightforward
enough. The editor told me that if I nailed it on the first one, all he
needed was one person.
The way I figured it was this: If they're doing a story on cabbies with
cell phones, there must be a lot of them, right? How hard could it be?
New York City must be filled with them. I've been known to ask one too
many questions when it comes to assignments, so much so that I've been
asked on more than one occasion: "Markisz, did you hear what I said?"
Ok, so I'm slow. I was confident that this was going to be a piece of
cake. I'll drive down to Broadway in midtown and hail a few cabs. If that
doesn't work, I'll walk over to the Hilton or to one of the other big
hotels. Hey, this is New York.
At 10 am the next morning, on Broadway and 54th, I flagged down half
a dozen cabbies and not one had a cell phone. Fifteen minutes into my
search, I was frozen, feeling faint, and having heart palpitations. It
wasn't working out quite like I'd anticipated, and I feared I was getting
a relapse of the flu.
I meandered over to a small hotel on W. 54th Street and there happened
to be a half dozen cabs waiting in line for fares. The first person I
asked was a woman ---with a cell phone! A willing subject, Ms. Rajni Tak
let me warm up in her cab, while my frozen fingers numbingly searched
for the shutter while she used her cell phone. I asked her a few questions,
like what company do you work for? are you self employed? what do you
primarily use your cellular phone for? where do you live? I asked what
I thought were pertinent questions and went on to find a second subject
just to cover my bases. I walked to the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue and
54th Street, to find at least a dozen cabdrivers waiting in line along
Sixth Avenue. I went to each and every cabdriver in that line, and not
one of them had a cell phone.
I began to wonder what this story was about anyway. I went into the Hilton
to defrost for a little while and then I made my way back to my car, which
was parked along Broadway. Passing the same hotel as before, I found another
cab driver, this time a man named Baldiner Singh who let me photograph
him with his cellular phone.
At this point I was nearly passing out, but managed to get downtown to
the office with my film. I called the editor and told him the film was
in the drink. I had an alternative picture in mind, one that I'd taken
while in Europe in November, if the story was more global in scope. The
editor told me he was interested in seeing it ---and that I should transmit
it later in the afternoon---but it probably was more of a national story.
He then asked me: "You did get the model type of cellular phones that
they were using and the type of plans that they have, didn't you?"
"Uh, what?" I gulped.
As I recall, I mumbled something unintelligible.
"I did tell you that this is a story on cellular phone use, not cabbies
and cellular phones, right?" he asked me. We just thought it would be
good to illustrate the story with a cabdriver.
"Just shoot me now," I thought.
Not one to admit defeat, I figured I had to salvage this somehow without
having to go out and reshoot it. I needed to go back home to bed. I called
directory assistance in Queens to see if there was a Baldiner Singh listed.
There were two thousand of them.
When the editor came up to the lab to look at the film, one of the staffers
asked me what I'd just photographed. I launched into a Seinfeldesque version
of this story, to which the staffer said: "You know she's busting your
chops, don't you??? (although he used somewhat different language) to
which the editor replied: "She's 100% right, I hadn't given her enough
information."
Fortunately, Ms. Rajni Tak had asked me when the story was going to run.
She had asked me if I would call her and let her know. OK, SUSAN, WHERE
WAS THAT PIECE OF PAPER, THE ONE WITH HER CELLULAR PHONE NUMBER ON IT?
In my pocket was a crumpled piece of paper. 14K gold! I called her and
was able to get the model type, and the type of cell phone plan, all of
which eventually went with the caption information underneath her photograph,
which ran a few days later.
It all ended on a happy note, thanks to the serendipitous request of
Ms. Tak for the pub date.
Unfortunately, my alternative picture, which I thought was pretty funny,
didn't run. when I was in Europe in November, it seemed that virtually
all Europeans had cell phones. People walking and talking on their cell
phones, people eating and talking on their cell phones; people driving
and talking, people in churches and museums talking on their cell phones.
It didn't occur to me that this might be a story in the making, but I
did, I thought, get the quintessential European cellular phone picture...a
Venetian gondolier with his cell phone, while his clients wait impatiently
for him to finish his conversation and get on with the business of taking
them for a ride. I respectfully submit my Venetian gondolier rather than
my New York Cabbie. Although the scope of the story was not international,
this was a better picture.
"Let Me Take This Call" November 13, 1999 copyright Susan
B. Markisz
Milton
hands me two Nikon F4's and an assortment of lenses and
assigns staff photographer Evan Schneider to accompany me
on my first assignment in the GA
We've
all had to do our share of one computer genius/computer
programmer/computer innovator/computer geek photograph after
another... and it begs the question: How many ways can you
shoot a computer without taking out a double barreled shotgun?
Photography
enabled me to bring my own vision and interpretation to
the canvas, at first fairly effortlessly, at least compared
to what it had been like trying to eek out an image from
a glob of burnt sienna to replicate a paper bag still-life.
Behind
the Viewfinder - A Year in the Life of Photojournalism
http://www.digitalstoryteller.com/YITL
This site is protected by United States Copyright
Laws
Website Design Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 F.R."Fritz"
Nordengren Digital Storyteller
Let Me Take This Call
It was 12 degrees out with one of those ridiculously low wind chill factors,
and I was still recovering from a severe bout of the flu. My eyes were
tearing, my nose was running, I was losing sensation in my fingertips
and I was beginning to worry that I was going to come up empty on this
assignment. By the way, did you ever wonder how the weather people came
up with those wind chill numbers,("It's 12 degrees with a wind chill of
minus 40, so it feels like minus 60!" How do they know, by the way how
cold it feels to you and me?) Anyway...
A few weeks ago I received a page to do an assignment for the Business
section. The editor told me he needed a picture of a cabdriver with a
cellphone. He told me it was an illustration so I could stop and ask cabbies
if they had cellphones. In other words, I didn't have to stalk one out
with a telephoto lens.
When I work for the Big Newspaper, I sometimes get a faxed assignment
request (if I'm home). Mostly though, I get paged and the details are
given to me over the phone. This assignment had come to me by way of the
telephone, the night before, and I had had the whole night to think about
it. I'd asked the editor how many people he wanted me to photograph and
if there were any other particulars I needed to know. It seemed straightforward
enough. The editor told me that if I nailed it on the first one, all he
needed was one person.
The way I figured it was this: If they're doing a story on cabbies with
cell phones, there must be a lot of them, right? How hard could it be?
New York City must be filled with them. I've been known to ask one too
many questions when it comes to assignments, so much so that I've been
asked on more than one occasion: "Markisz, did you hear what I said?"
Ok, so I'm slow. I was confident that this was going to be a piece of
cake. I'll drive down to Broadway in midtown and hail a few cabs. If that
doesn't work, I'll walk over to the Hilton or to one of the other big
hotels. Hey, this is New York.
At 10 am the next morning, on Broadway and 54th, I flagged down half
a dozen cabbies and not one had a cell phone. Fifteen minutes into my
search, I was frozen, feeling faint, and having heart palpitations. It
wasn't working out quite like I'd anticipated, and I feared I was getting
a relapse of the flu.
I meandered over to a small hotel on W. 54th Street and there happened
to be a half dozen cabs waiting in line for fares. The first person I
asked was a woman ---with a cell phone! A willing subject, Ms. Rajni Tak
let me warm up in her cab, while my frozen fingers numbingly searched
for the shutter while she used her cell phone. I asked her a few questions,
like what company do you work for? are you self employed? what do you
primarily use your cellular phone for? where do you live? I asked what
I thought were pertinent questions and went on to find a second subject
just to cover my bases. I walked to the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue and
54th Street, to find at least a dozen cabdrivers waiting in line along
Sixth Avenue. I went to each and every cabdriver in that line, and not
one of them had a cell phone.
I began to wonder what this story was about anyway. I went into the Hilton
to defrost for a little while and then I made my way back to my car, which
was parked along Broadway. Passing the same hotel as before, I found another
cab driver, this time a man named Baldiner Singh who let me photograph
him with his cellular phone.
At this point I was nearly passing out, but managed to get downtown to
the office with my film. I called the editor and told him the film was
in the drink. I had an alternative picture in mind, one that I'd taken
while in Europe in November, if the story was more global in scope. The
editor told me he was interested in seeing it ---and that I should transmit
it later in the afternoon---but it probably was more of a national story.
He then asked me: "You did get the model type of cellular phones that
they were using and the type of plans that they have, didn't you?"
"Uh, what?" I gulped.
As I recall, I mumbled something unintelligible.
"I did tell you that this is a story on cellular phone use, not cabbies
and cellular phones, right?" he asked me. We just thought it would be
good to illustrate the story with a cabdriver.
"Just shoot me now," I thought.
Not one to admit defeat, I figured I had to salvage this somehow without
having to go out and reshoot it. I needed to go back home to bed. I called
directory assistance in Queens to see if there was a Baldiner Singh listed.
There were two thousand of them.
When the editor came up to the lab to look at the film, one of the staffers
asked me what I'd just photographed. I launched into a Seinfeldesque version
of this story, to which the staffer said: "You know she's busting your
chops, don't you??? (although he used somewhat different language) to
which the editor replied: "She's 100% right, I hadn't given her enough
information."
Fortunately, Ms. Rajni Tak had asked me when the story was going to run.
She had asked me if I would call her and let her know. OK, SUSAN, WHERE
WAS THAT PIECE OF PAPER, THE ONE WITH HER CELLULAR PHONE NUMBER ON IT?
In my pocket was a crumpled piece of paper. 14K gold! I called her and
was able to get the model type, and the type of cell phone plan, all of
which eventually went with the caption information underneath her photograph,
which ran a few days later.
It all ended on a happy note, thanks to the serendipitous request of
Ms. Tak for the pub date.
Unfortunately, my alternative picture, which I thought was pretty funny,
didn't run. when I was in Europe in November, it seemed that virtually
all Europeans had cell phones. People walking and talking on their cell
phones, people eating and talking on their cell phones; people driving
and talking, people in churches and museums talking on their cell phones.
It didn't occur to me that this might be a story in the making, but I
did, I thought, get the quintessential European cellular phone picture...a
Venetian gondolier with his cell phone, while his clients wait impatiently
for him to finish his conversation and get on with the business of taking
them for a ride. I respectfully submit my Venetian gondolier rather than
my New York Cabbie. Although the scope of the story was not international,
this was a better picture.
"Let Me Take This Call" November 13, 1999 copyright Susan
B. Markisz
Milton
hands me two Nikon F4's and an assortment of lenses and
assigns staff photographer Evan Schneider to accompany me
on my first assignment in the GA
We've
all had to do our share of one computer genius/computer
programmer/computer innovator/computer geek photograph after
another... and it begs the question: How many ways can you
shoot a computer without taking out a double barreled shotgun?
Photography
enabled me to bring my own vision and interpretation to
the canvas, at first fairly effortlessly, at least compared
to what it had been like trying to eek out an image from
a glob of burnt sienna to replicate a paper bag still-life.
Behind
the Viewfinder - A Year in the Life of Photojournalism
http://www.digitalstoryteller.com/YITL
This site is protected by United States Copyright
Laws
Website Design Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 F.R."Fritz"
Nordengren Digital Storyteller
Let Me Take This Call
It was 12 degrees out with one of those ridiculously low wind chill factors,
and I was still recovering from a severe bout of the flu. My eyes were
tearing, my nose was running, I was losing sensation in my fingertips
and I was beginning to worry that I was going to come up empty on this
assignment. By the way, did you ever wonder how the weather people came
up with those wind chill numbers,("It's 12 degrees with a wind chill of
minus 40, so it feels like minus 60!" How do they know, by the way how
cold it feels to you and me?) Anyway...
A few weeks ago I received a page to do an assignment for the Business
section. The editor told me he needed a picture of a cabdriver with a
cellphone. He told me it was an illustration so I could stop and ask cabbies
if they had cellphones. In other words, I didn't have to stalk one out
with a telephoto lens.
When I work for the Big Newspaper, I sometimes get a faxed assignment
request (if I'm home). Mostly though, I get paged and the details are
given to me over the phone. This assignment had come to me by way of the
telephone, the night before, and I had had the whole night to think about
it. I'd asked the editor how many people he wanted me to photograph and
if there were any other particulars I needed to know. It seemed straightforward
enough. The editor told me that if I nailed it on the first one, all he
needed was one person.
The way I figured it was this: If they're doing a story on cabbies with
cell phones, there must be a lot of them, right? How hard could it be?
New York City must be filled with them. I've been known to ask one too
many questions when it comes to assignments, so much so that I've been
asked on more than one occasion: "Markisz, did you hear what I said?"
Ok, so I'm slow. I was confident that this was going to be a piece of
cake. I'll drive down to Broadway in midtown and hail a few cabs. If that
doesn't work, I'll walk over to the Hilton or to one of the other big
hotels. Hey, this is New York.
At 10 am the next morning, on Broadway and 54th, I flagged down half
a dozen cabbies and not one had a cell phone. Fifteen minutes into my
search, I was frozen, feeling faint, and having heart palpitations. It
wasn't working out quite like I'd anticipated, and I feared I was getting
a relapse of the flu.
I meandered over to a small hotel on W. 54th Street and there happened
to be a half dozen cabs waiting in line for fares. The first person I
asked was a woman ---with a cell phone! A willing subject, Ms. Rajni Tak
let me warm up in her cab, while my frozen fingers numbingly searched
for the shutter while she used her cell phone. I asked her a few questions,
like what company do you work for? are you self employed? what do you
primarily use your cellular phone for? where do you live? I asked what
I thought were pertinent questions and went on to find a second subject
just to cover my bases. I walked to the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue and
54th Street, to find at least a dozen cabdrivers waiting in line along
Sixth Avenue. I went to each and every cabdriver in that line, and not
one of them had a cell phone.
I began to wonder what this story was about anyway. I went into the Hilton
to defrost for a little while and then I made my way back to my car, which
was parked along Broadway. Passing the same hotel as before, I found another
cab driver, this time a man named Baldiner Singh who let me photograph
him with his cellular phone.
At this point I was nearly passing out, but managed to get downtown to
the office with my film. I called the editor and told him the film was
in the drink. I had an alternative picture in mind, one that I'd taken
while in Europe in November, if the story was more global in scope. The
editor told me he was interested in seeing it ---and that I should transmit
it later in the afternoon---but it probably was more of a national story.
He then asked me: "You did get the model type of cellular phones that
they were using and the type of plans that they have, didn't you?"
"Uh, what?" I gulped.
As I recall, I mumbled something unintelligible.
"I did tell you that this is a story on cellular phone use, not cabbies
and cellular phones, right?" he asked me. We just thought it would be
good to illustrate the story with a cabdriver.
"Just shoot me now," I thought.
Not one to admit defeat, I figured I had to salvage this somehow without
having to go out and reshoot it. I needed to go back home to bed. I called
directory assistance in Queens to see if there was a Baldiner Singh listed.
There were two thousand of them.
When the editor came up to the lab to look at the film, one of the staffers
asked me what I'd just photographed. I launched into a Seinfeldesque version
of this story, to which the staffer said: "You know she's busting your
chops, don't you??? (although he used somewhat different language) to
which the editor replied: "She's 100% right, I hadn't given her enough
information."
Fortunately, Ms. Rajni Tak had asked me when the story was going to run.
She had asked me if I would call her and let her know. OK, SUSAN, WHERE
WAS THAT PIECE OF PAPER, THE ONE WITH HER CELLULAR PHONE NUMBER ON IT?
In my pocket was a crumpled piece of paper. 14K gold! I called her and
was able to get the model type, and the type of cell phone plan, all of
which eventually went with the caption information underneath her photograph,
which ran a few days later.
It all ended on a happy note, thanks to the serendipitous request of
Ms. Tak for the pub date.
Unfortunately, my alternative picture, which I thought was pretty funny,
didn't run. when I was in Europe in November, it seemed that virtually
all Europeans had cell phones. People walking and talking on their cell
phones, people eating and talking on their cell phones; people driving
and talking, people in churches and museums talking on their cell phones.
It didn't occur to me that this might be a story in the making, but I
did, I thought, get the quintessential European cellular phone picture...a
Venetian gondolier with his cell phone, while his clients wait impatiently
for him to finish his conversation and get on with the business of taking
them for a ride. I respectfully submit my Venetian gondolier rather than
my New York Cabbie. Although the scope of the story was not international,
this was a better picture.
"Let Me Take This Call" November 13, 1999 copyright Susan
B. Markisz
Milton
hands me two Nikon F4's and an assortment of lenses and
assigns staff photographer Evan Schneider to accompany me
on my first assignment in the GA
We've
all had to do our share of one computer genius/computer
programmer/computer innovator/computer geek photograph after
another... and it begs the question: How many ways can you
shoot a computer without taking out a double barreled shotgun?
Photography
enabled me to bring my own vision and interpretation to
the canvas, at first fairly effortlessly, at least compared
to what it had been like trying to eek out an image from
a glob of burnt sienna to replicate a paper bag still-life.
Behind
the Viewfinder - A Year in the Life of Photojournalism
http://www.digitalstoryteller.com/YITL
This site is protected by United States Copyright
Laws
Website Design Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 F.R."Fritz"
Nordengren Digital Storyteller
Let Me Take This Call
It was 12 degrees out with one of those ridiculously low wind chill factors,
and I was still recovering from a severe bout of the flu. My eyes were
tearing, my nose was running, I was losing sensation in my fingertips
and I was beginning to worry that I was going to come up empty on this
assignment. By the way, did you ever wonder how the weather people came
up with those wind chill numbers,("It's 12 degrees with a wind chill of
minus 40, so it feels like minus 60!" How do they know, by the way how
cold it feels to you and me?) Anyway...
A few weeks ago I received a page to do an assignment for the Business
section. The editor told me he needed a picture of a cabdriver with a
cellphone. He told me it was an illustration so I could stop and ask cabbies
if they had cellphones. In other words, I didn't have to stalk one out
with a telephoto lens.
When I work for the Big Newspaper, I sometimes get a faxed assignment
request (if I'm home). Mostly though, I get paged and the details are
given to me over the phone. This assignment had come to me by way of the
telephone, the night before, and I had had the whole night to think about
it. I'd asked the editor how many people he wanted me to photograph and
if there were any other particulars I needed to know. It seemed straightforward
enough. The editor told me that if I nailed it on the first one, all he
needed was one person.
The way I figured it was this: If they're doing a story on cabbies with
cell phones, there must be a lot of them, right? How hard could it be?
New York City must be filled with them. I've been known to ask one too
many questions when it comes to assignments, so much so that I've been
asked on more than one occasion: "Markisz, did you hear what I said?"
Ok, so I'm slow. I was confident that this was going to be a piece of
cake. I'll drive down to Broadway in midtown and hail a few cabs. If that
doesn't work, I'll walk over to the Hilton or to one of the other big
hotels. Hey, this is New York.
At 10 am the next morning, on Broadway and 54th, I flagged down half
a dozen cabbies and not one had a cell phone. Fifteen minutes into my
search, I was frozen, feeling faint, and having heart palpitations. It
wasn't working out quite like I'd anticipated, and I feared I was getting
a relapse of the flu.
I meandered over to a small hotel on W. 54th Street and there happened
to be a half dozen cabs waiting in line for fares. The first person I
asked was a woman ---with a cell phone! A willing subject, Ms. Rajni Tak
let me warm up in her cab, while my frozen fingers numbingly searched
for the shutter while she used her cell phone. I asked her a few questions,
like what company do you work for? are you self employed? what do you
primarily use your cellular phone for? where do you live? I asked what
I thought were pertinent questions and went on to find a second subject
just to cover my bases. I walked to the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue and
54th Street, to find at least a dozen cabdrivers waiting in line along
Sixth Avenue. I went to each and every cabdriver in that line, and not
one of them had a cell phone.
I began to wonder what this story was about anyway. I went into the Hilton
to defrost for a little while and then I made my way back to my car, which
was parked along Broadway. Passing the same hotel as before, I found another
cab driver, this time a man named Baldiner Singh who let me photograph
him with his cellular phone.
At this point I was nearly passing out, but managed to get downtown to
the office with my film. I called the editor and told him the film was
in the drink. I had an alternative picture in mind, one that I'd taken
while in Europe in November, if the story was more global in scope. The
editor told me he was interested in seeing it ---and that I should transmit
it later in the afternoon---but it probably was more of a national story.
He then asked me: "You did get the model type of cellular phones that
they were using and the type of plans that they have, didn't you?"
"Uh, what?" I gulped.
As I recall, I mumbled something unintelligible.
"I did tell you that this is a story on cellular phone use, not cabbies
and cellular phones, right?" he asked me. We just thought it would be
good to illustrate the story with a cabdriver.
"Just shoot me now," I thought.
Not one to admit defeat, I figured I had to salvage this somehow without
having to go out and reshoot it. I needed to go back home to bed. I called
directory assistance in Queens to see if there was a Baldiner Singh listed.
There were two thousand of them.
When the editor came up to the lab to look at the film, one of the staffers
asked me what I'd just photographed. I launched into a Seinfeldesque version
of this story, to which the staffer said: "You know she's busting your
chops, don't you??? (although he used somewhat different language) to
which the editor replied: "She's 100% right, I hadn't given her enough
information."
Fortunately, Ms. Rajni Tak had asked me when the story was going to run.
She had asked me if I would call her and let her know. OK, SUSAN, WHERE
WAS THAT PIECE OF PAPER, THE ONE WITH HER CELLULAR PHONE NUMBER ON IT?
In my pocket was a crumpled piece of paper. 14K gold! I called her and
was able to get the model type, and the type of cell phone plan, all of
which eventually went with the caption information underneath her photograph,
which ran a few days later.
It all ended on a happy note, thanks to the serendipitous request of
Ms. Tak for the pub date.
Unfortunately, my alternative picture, which I thought was pretty funny,
didn't run. when I was in Europe in November, it seemed that virtually
all Europeans had cell phones. People walking and talking on their cell
phones, people eating and talking on their cell phones; people driving
and talking, people in churches and museums talking on their cell phones.
It didn't occur to me that this might be a story in the making, but I
did, I thought, get the quintessential European cellular phone picture...a
Venetian gondolier with his cell phone, while his clients wait impatiently
for him to finish his conversation and get on with the business of taking
them for a ride. I respectfully submit my Venetian gondolier rather than
my New York Cabbie. Although the scope of the story was not international,
this was a better picture.
"Let Me Take This Call" November 13, 1999 copyright Susan
B. Markisz
Milton
hands me two Nikon F4's and an assortment of lenses and
assigns staff photographer Evan Schneider to accompany me
on my first assignment in the GA
We've
all had to do our share of one computer genius/computer
programmer/computer innovator/computer geek photograph after
another... and it begs the question: How many ways can you
shoot a computer without taking out a double barreled shotgun?
Photography
enabled me to bring my own vision and interpretation to
the canvas, at first fairly effortlessly, at least compared
to what it had been like trying to eek out an image from
a glob of burnt sienna to replicate a paper bag still-life.
Behind
the Viewfinder - A Year in the Life of Photojournalism
http://www.digitalstoryteller.com/YITL
This site is protected by United States Copyright
Laws
Website Design Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 F.R."Fritz"
Nordengren Digital Storyteller
Let Me Take This Call
It was 12 degrees out with one of those ridiculously low wind chill factors,
and I was still recovering from a severe bout of the flu. My eyes were
tearing, my nose was running, I was losing sensation in my fingertips
and I was beginning to worry that I was going to come up empty on this
assignment. By the way, did you ever wonder how the weather people came
up with those wind chill numbers,("It's 12 degrees with a wind chill of
minus 40, so it feels like minus 60!" How do they know, by the way how
cold it feels to you and me?) Anyway...
A few weeks ago I received a page to do an assignment for the Business
section. The editor told me he needed a picture of a cabdriver with a
cellphone. He told me it was an illustration so I could stop and ask cabbies
if they had cellphones. In other words, I didn't have to stalk one out
with a telephoto lens.
When I work for the Big Newspaper, I sometimes get a faxed assignment
request (if I'm home). Mostly though, I get paged and the details are
given to me over the phone. This assignment had come to me by way of the
telephone, the night before, and I had had the whole night to think about
it. I'd asked the editor how many people he wanted me to photograph and
if there were any other particulars I needed to know. It seemed straightforward
enough. The editor told me that if I nailed it on the first one, all he
needed was one person.
The way I figured it was this: If they're doing a story on cabbies with
cell phones, there must be a lot of them, right? How hard could it be?
New York City must be filled with them. I've been known to ask one too
many questions when it comes to assignments, so much so that I've been
asked on more than one occasion: "Markisz, did you hear what I said?"
Ok, so I'm slow. I was confident that this was going to be a piece of
cake. I'll drive down to Broadway in midtown and hail a few cabs. If that
doesn't work, I'll walk over to the Hilton or to one of the other big
hotels. Hey, this is New York.
At 10 am the next morning, on Broadway and 54th, I flagged down half
a dozen cabbies and not one had a cell phone. Fifteen minutes into my
search, I was frozen, feeling faint, and having heart palpitations. It
wasn't working out quite like I'd anticipated, and I feared I was getting
a relapse of the flu.
I meandered over to a small hotel on W. 54th Street and there happened
to be a half dozen cabs waiting in line for fares. The first person I
asked was a woman ---with a cell phone! A willing subject, Ms. Rajni Tak
let me warm up in her cab, while my frozen fingers numbingly searched
for the shutter while she used her cell phone. I asked her a few questions,
like what company do you work for? are you self employed? what do you
primarily use your cellular phone for? where do you live? I asked what
I thought were pertinent questions and went on to find a second subject
just to cover my bases. I walked to the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue and
54th Street, to find at least a dozen cabdrivers waiting in line along
Sixth Avenue. I went to each and every cabdriver in that line, and not
one of them had a cell phone.
I began to wonder what this story was about anyway. I went into the Hilton
to defrost for a little while and then I made my way back to my car, which
was parked along Broadway. Passing the same hotel as before, I found another
cab driver, this time a man named Baldiner Singh who let me photograph
him with his cellular phone.
At this point I was nearly passing out, but managed to get downtown to
the office with my film. I called the editor and told him the film was
in the drink. I had an alternative picture in mind, one that I'd taken
while in Europe in November, if the story was more global in scope. The
editor told me he was interested in seeing it ---and that I should transmit
it later in the afternoon---but it probably was more of a national story.
He then asked me: "You did get the model type of cellular phones that
they were using and the type of plans that they have, didn't you?"
"Uh, what?" I gulped.
As I recall, I mumbled something unintelligible.
"I did tell you that this is a story on cellular phone use, not cabbies
and cellular phones, right?" he asked me. We just thought it would be
good to illustrate the story with a cabdriver.
"Just shoot me now," I thought.
Not one to admit defeat, I figured I had to salvage this somehow without
having to go out and reshoot it. I needed to go back home to bed. I called
directory assistance in Queens to see if there was a Baldiner Singh listed.
There were two thousand of them.
When the editor came up to the lab to look at the film, one of the staffers
asked me what I'd just photographed. I launched into a Seinfeldesque version
of this story, to which the staffer said: "You know she's busting your
chops, don't you??? (although he used somewhat different language) to
which the editor replied: "She's 100% right, I hadn't given her enough
information."
Fortunately, Ms. Rajni Tak had asked me when the story was going to run.
She had asked me if I would call her and let her know. OK, SUSAN, WHERE
WAS THAT PIECE OF PAPER, THE ONE WITH HER CELLULAR PHONE NUMBER ON IT?
In my pocket was a crumpled piece of paper. 14K gold! I called her and
was able to get the model type, and the type of cell phone plan, all of
which eventually went with the caption information underneath her photograph,
which ran a few days later.
It all ended on a happy note, thanks to the serendipitous request of
Ms. Tak for the pub date.
Unfortunately, my alternative picture, which I thought was pretty funny,
didn't run. when I was in Europe in November, it seemed that virtually
all Europeans had cell phones. People walking and talking on their cell
phones, people eating and talking on their cell phones; people driving
and talking, people in churches and museums talking on their cell phones.
It didn't occur to me that this might be a story in the making, but I
did, I thought, get the quintessential European cellular phone picture...a
Venetian gondolier with his cell phone, while his clients wait impatiently
for him to finish his conversation and get on with the business of taking
them for a ride. I respectfully submit my Venetian gondolier rather than
my New York Cabbie. Although the scope of the story was not international,
this was a better picture.
"Let Me Take This Call" November 13, 1999 copyright Susan
B. Markisz
Milton
hands me two Nikon F4's and an assortment of lenses and
assigns staff photographer Evan Schneider to accompany me
on my first assignment in the GA
We've
all had to do our share of one computer genius/computer
programmer/computer innovator/computer geek photograph after
another... and it begs the question: How many ways can you
shoot a computer without taking out a double barreled shotgun?
Photography
enabled me to bring my own vision and interpretation to
the canvas, at first fairly effortlessly, at least compared
to what it had been like trying to eek out an image from
a glob of burnt sienna to replicate a paper bag still-life.
Behind
the Viewfinder - A Year in the Life of Photojournalism
http://www.digitalstoryteller.com/YITL
This site is protected by United States Copyright
Laws
Website Design Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 F.R."Fritz"
Nordengren Digital Storyteller
Let Me Take This Call
It was 12 degrees out with one of those ridiculously low wind chill factors,
and I was still recovering from a severe bout of the flu. My eyes were
tearing, my nose was running, I was losing sensation in my fingertips
and I was beginning to worry that I was going to come up empty on this
assignment. By the way, did you ever wonder how the weather people came
up with those wind chill numbers,("It's 12 degrees with a wind chill of
minus 40, so it feels like minus 60!" How do they know, by the way how
cold it feels to you and me?) Anyway...
A few weeks ago I received a page to do an assignment for the Business
section. The editor told me he needed a picture of a cabdriver with a
cellphone. He told me it was an illustration so I could stop and ask cabbies
if they had cellphones. In other words, I didn't have to stalk one out
with a telephoto lens.
When I work for the Big Newspaper, I sometimes get a faxed assignment
request (if I'm home). Mostly though, I get paged and the details are
given to me over the phone. This assignment had come to me by way of the
telephone, the night before, and I had had the whole night to think about
it. I'd asked the editor how many people he wanted me to photograph and
if there were any other particulars I needed to know. It seemed straightforward
enough. The editor told me that if I nailed it on the first one, all he
needed was one person.
The way I figured it was this: If they're doing a story on cabbies with
cell phones, there must be a lot of them, right? How hard could it be?
New York City must be filled with them. I've been known to ask one too
many questions when it comes to assignments, so much so that I've been
asked on more than one occasion: "Markisz, did you hear what I said?"
Ok, so I'm slow. I was confident that this was going to be a piece of
cake. I'll drive down to Broadway in midtown and hail a few cabs. If that
doesn't work, I'll walk over to the Hilton or to one of the other big
hotels. Hey, this is New York.
At 10 am the next morning, on Broadway and 54th, I flagged down half
a dozen cabbies and not one had a cell phone. Fifteen minutes into my
search, I was frozen, feeling faint, and having heart palpitations. It
wasn't working out quite like I'd anticipated, and I feared I was getting
a relapse of the flu.
I meandered over to a small hotel on W. 54th Street and there happened
to be a half dozen cabs waiting in line for fares. The first person I
asked was a woman ---with a cell phone! A willing subject, Ms. Rajni Tak
let me warm up in her cab, while my frozen fingers numbingly searched
for the shutter while she used her cell phone. I asked her a few questions,
like what company do you work for? are you self employed? what do you
primarily use your cellular phone for? where do you live? I asked what
I thought were pertinent questions and went on to find a second subject
just to cover my bases. I walked to the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue and
54th Street, to find at least a dozen cabdrivers waiting in line along
Sixth Avenue. I went to each and every cabdriver in that line, and not
one of them had a cell phone.
I began to wonder what this story was about anyway. I went into the Hilton
to defrost for a little while and then I made my way back to my car, which
was parked along Broadway. Passing the same hotel as before, I found another
cab driver, this time a man named Baldiner Singh who let me photograph
him with his cellular phone.
At this point I was nearly passing out, but managed to get downtown to
the office with my film. I called the editor and told him the film was
in the drink. I had an alternative picture in mind, one that I'd taken
while in Europe in November, if the story was more global in scope. The
editor told me he was interested in seeing it ---and that I should transmit
it later in the afternoon---but it probably was more of a national story.
He then asked me: "You did get the model type of cellular phones that
they were using and the type of plans that they have, didn't you?"
"Uh, what?" I gulped.
As I recall, I mumbled something unintelligible.
"I did tell you that this is a story on cellular phone use, not cabbies
and cellular phones, right?" he asked me. We just thought it would be
good to illustrate the story with a cabdriver.
"Just shoot me now," I thought.
Not one to admit defeat, I figured I had to salvage this somehow without
having to go out and reshoot it. I needed to go back home to bed. I called
directory assistance in Queens to see if there was a Baldiner Singh listed.
There were two thousand of them.
When the editor came up to the lab to look at the film, one of the staffers
asked me what I'd just photographed. I launched into a Seinfeldesque version
of this story, to which the staffer said: "You know she's busting your
chops, don't you??? (although he used somewhat different language) to
which the editor replied: "She's 100% right, I hadn't given her enough
information."
Fortunately, Ms. Rajni Tak had asked me when the story was going to run.
She had asked me if I would call her and let her know. OK, SUSAN, WHERE
WAS THAT PIECE OF PAPER, THE ONE WITH HER CELLULAR PHONE NUMBER ON IT?
In my pocket was a crumpled piece of paper. 14K gold! I called her and
was able to get the model type, and the type of cell phone plan, all of
which eventually went with the caption information underneath her photograph,
which ran a few days later.
It all ended on a happy note, thanks to the serendipitous request of
Ms. Tak for the pub date.
Unfortunately, my alternative picture, which I thought was pretty funny,
didn't run. when I was in Europe in November, it seemed that virtually
all Europeans had cell phones. People walking and talking on their cell
phones, people eating and talking on their cell phones; people driving
and talking, people in churches and museums talking on their cell phones.
It didn't occur to me that this might be a story in the making, but I
did, I thought, get the quintessential European cellular phone picture...a
Venetian gondolier with his cell phone, while his clients wait impatiently
for him to finish his conversation and get on with the business of taking
them for a ride. I respectfully submit my Venetian gondolier rather than
my New York Cabbie. Although the scope of the story was not international,
this was a better picture.
"Let Me Take This Call" November 13, 1999 copyright Susan
B. Markisz
Milton
hands me two Nikon F4's and an assortment of lenses and
assigns staff photographer Evan Schneider to accompany me
on my first assignment in the GA
We've
all had to do our share of one computer genius/computer
programmer/computer innovator/computer geek photograph after
another... and it begs the question: How many ways can you
shoot a computer without taking out a double barreled shotgun?
Photography
enabled me to bring my own vision and interpretation to
the canvas, at first fairly effortlessly, at least compared
to what it had been like trying to eek out an image from
a glob of burnt sienna to replicate a paper bag still-life.
Behind
the Viewfinder - A Year in the Life of Photojournalism
http://www.digitalstoryteller.com/YITL
This site is protected by United States Copyright
Laws
Website Design Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 F.R."Fritz"
Nordengren Digital Storyteller
Let Me Take This Call
It was 12 degrees out with one of those ridiculously low wind chill factors,
and I was still recovering from a severe bout of the flu. My eyes were
tearing, my nose was running, I was losing sensation in my fingertips
and I was beginning to worry that I was going to come up empty on this
assignment. By the way, did you ever wonder how the weather people came
up with those wind chill numbers,("It's 12 degrees with a wind chill of
minus 40, so it feels like minus 60!" How do they know, by the way how
cold it feels to you and me?) Anyway...
A few weeks ago I received a page to do an assignment for the Business
section. The editor told me he needed a picture of a cabdriver with a
cellphone. He told me it was an illustration so I could stop and ask cabbies
if they had cellphones. In other words, I didn't have to stalk one out
with a telephoto lens.
When I work for the Big Newspaper, I sometimes get a faxed assignment
request (if I'm home). Mostly though, I get paged and the details are
given to me over the phone. This assignment had come to me by way of the
telephone, the night before, and I had had the whole night to think about
it. I'd asked the editor how many people he wanted me to photograph and
if there were any other particulars I needed to know. It seemed straightforward
enough. The editor told me that if I nailed it on the first one, all he
needed was one person.
The way I figured it was this: If they're doing a story on cabbies with
cell phones, there must be a lot of them, right? How hard could it be?
New York City must be filled with them. I've been known to ask one too
many questions when it comes to assignments, so much so that I've been
asked on more than one occasion: "Markisz, did you hear what I said?"
Ok, so I'm slow. I was confident that this was going to be a piece of
cake. I'll drive down to Broadway in midtown and hail a few cabs. If that
doesn't work, I'll walk over to the Hilton or to one of the other big
hotels. Hey, this is New York.
At 10 am the next morning, on Broadway and 54th, I flagged down half
a dozen cabbies and not one had a cell phone. Fifteen minutes into my
search, I was frozen, feeling faint, and having heart palpitations. It
wasn't working out quite like I'd anticipated, and I feared I was getting
a relapse of the flu.
I meandered over to a small hotel on W. 54th Street and there happened
to be a half dozen cabs waiting in line for fares. The first person I
asked was a woman ---with a cell phone! A willing subject, Ms. Rajni Tak
let me warm up in her cab, while my frozen fingers numbingly searched
for the shutter while she used her cell phone. I asked her a few questions,
like what company do you work for? are you self employed? what do you
primarily use your cellular phone for? where do you live? I asked what
I thought were pertinent questions and went on to find a second subject
just to cover my bases. I walked to the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue and
54th Street, to find at least a dozen cabdrivers waiting in line along
Sixth Avenue. I went to each and every cabdriver in that line, and not
one of them had a cell phone.
I began to wonder what this story was about anyway. I went into the Hilton
to defrost for a little while and then I made my way back to my car, which
was parked along Broadway. Passing the same hotel as before, I found another
cab driver, this time a man named Baldiner Singh who let me photograph
him with his cellular phone.
At this point I was nearly passing out, but managed to get downtown to
the office with my film. I called the editor and told him the film was
in the drink. I had an alternative picture in mind, one that I'd taken
while in Europe in November, if the story was more global in scope. The
editor told me he was interested in seeing it ---and that I should transmit
it later in the afternoon---but it probably was more of a national story.
He then asked me: "You did get the model type of cellular phones that
they were using and the type of plans that they have, didn't you?"
"Uh, what?" I gulped.
As I recall, I mumbled something unintelligible.
"I did tell you that this is a story on cellular phone use, not cabbies
and cellular phones, right?" he asked me. We just thought it would be
good to illustrate the story with a cabdriver.
"Just shoot me now," I thought.
Not one to admit defeat, I figured I had to salvage this somehow without
having to go out and reshoot it. I needed to go back home to bed. I called
directory assistance in Queens to see if there was a Baldiner Singh listed.
There were two thousand of them.
When the editor came up to the lab to look at the film, one of the staffers
asked me what I'd just photographed. I launched into a Seinfeldesque version
of this story, to which the staffer said: "You know she's busting your
chops, don't you??? (although he used somewhat different language) to
which the editor replied: "She's 100% right, I hadn't given her enough
information."
Fortunately, Ms. Rajni Tak had asked me when the story was going to run.
She had asked me if I would call her and let her know. OK, SUSAN, WHERE
WAS THAT PIECE OF PAPER, THE ONE WITH HER CELLULAR PHONE NUMBER ON IT?
In my pocket was a crumpled piece of paper. 14K gold! I called her and
was able to get the model type, and the type of cell phone plan, all of
which eventually went with the caption information underneath her photograph,
which ran a few days later.
It all ended on a happy note, thanks to the serendipitous request of
Ms. Tak for the pub date.
Unfortunately, my alternative picture, which I thought was pretty funny,
didn't run. when I was in Europe in November, it seemed that virtually
all Europeans had cell phones. People walking and talking on their cell
phones, people eating and talking on their cell phones; people driving
and talking, people in churches and museums talking on their cell phones.
It didn't occur to me that this might be a story in the making, but I
did, I thought, get the quintessential European cellular phone picture...a
Venetian gondolier with his cell phone, while his clients wait impatiently
for him to finish his conversation and get on with the business of taking
them for a ride. I respectfully submit my Venetian gondolier rather than
my New York Cabbie. Although the scope of the story was not international,
this was a better picture.
"Let Me Take This Call" November 13, 1999 copyright Susan
B. Markisz
Milton
hands me two Nikon F4's and an assortment of lenses and
assigns staff photographer Evan Schneider to accompany me
on my first assignment in the GA
We've
all had to do our share of one computer genius/computer
programmer/computer innovator/computer geek photograph after
another... and it begs the question: How many ways can you
shoot a computer without taking out a double barreled shotgun?
Photography
enabled me to bring my own vision and interpretation to
the canvas, at first fairly effortlessly, at least compared
to what it had been like trying to eek out an image from
a glob of burnt sienna to replicate a paper bag still-life.
