Kevin Bacon visits Quantico...
I had the opportunity to take pictures of a celebrity the other day. Interesting. I felt like a paparazzo. Kevin Bacon came to the Quantico Marine Corps Museum for the screening of his HBO film, “Taking Chance”, a story about a Marine who takes the body of a fallen Marine back home with him. Or something like that. I don’t get HBO, so if I hear it gets good reviews then it will goe on the Netflix queue.
So I was ushered to the “press line”. Which is essentially a row of velvet rope where the celebs (in this case Bacon, the director and producer(s)), walk down the rope granting interviews to whatever press has gathered. It is my job to get a picture of him. I repeat: it is my job that I get a picture of him. This is why I have credentials. And this is why it is called a “press line”.
Kevin Bacon talking about his movie, "Taking Chance"
So, you may imagine my consternation when this exchange occurs about 5-10 minutes after Bacon shows up at the “press line”:
[A man walks up to me as I’m shooting pictures of Kevin giving interviews. I am standing about 8-12 feet away, and not using my flash, at this point. There are at least 4 other photographers and 2 video cameras (with lights) pointed at Kevin Bacon.]
BUSYBODY: Excuse me, can you stop taking pictures for a few minutes
ME: what?
B: can you stop taking pictures for a little bit. It’s distracting him while he’s giving interviews.
M: Are you serious?
B: yes, can you just stop for a few minutes?
M: but that’s why I’m here. To take pictures of him.
B: [increasingly agitated] yeah, can’t you just stop for a few minutes?
M: [thoroughly aggravated] are you going to tell the tv guys to stop filming?
B: just forget it [storms off, huffing and puffing]
[a few minutes pass until a woman comes up to me, while another photog is next to me, and again tells us to stop taking pictures for a few minutes because it’s apparently so distracting to a Hollywood actor who has starred in countless films. We stop. Then I move 10 feet away and use a longer lens and continue to take pictures]
Mr. Bacon, interviewed by military press...
No explanation was offered other than the absurd assertion that the camera was distracting him during interviews. Was this not a press line? Was the point in having a press line not to have pictures and interviews? Hasn't he walked the "red carpet" at the Oscars, and the SAGs...etc?
I don't know who these people were. I'm betting they were part of the local PR, or Musem handlers, who have no idea about picture taking and press junkets. Kevin never once indicated anything was bothering him. He never gave me a "look". It doesn’t take a few snaps to get a good picture. Many times I can spend a half an hour trying to get something that works and not come up with anything I like. Maybe that says more about me, though. The press line was staged on a balcony with the museum as the backdrop. However, it was dreadfully lit, and we were in an atrium, with the ceiling a good 50 feet above us (nowhere to bounce the flash). So I resorted to bouncing it off my hand, or even waiting for the TV guys to light him and using their light. It takes work. It’s not easy. And to suggest that a Hollywood actor--who’s actually known for having been in so many movies that you can play the six degrees game and link him to any other actor in Hollywood—is distracted by the camera during an interview is completely absurd.
So these photos you see are the best of what I got. And they aren’t even that great. Which only proves my point that it’s not that easy to shoot, and it takes time, and a little creativity. To suggest that I stop taking pictures for a few minutes is to mean that you’re stopping me from doing my job to come away with something interesting.
On a side note, Kevin Bacon seemed to be a very nice person and very humble about the experience of doing this film.
So I was ushered to the “press line”. Which is essentially a row of velvet rope where the celebs (in this case Bacon, the director and producer(s)), walk down the rope granting interviews to whatever press has gathered. It is my job to get a picture of him. I repeat: it is my job that I get a picture of him. This is why I have credentials. And this is why it is called a “press line”.
Kevin Bacon talking about his movie, "Taking Chance"So, you may imagine my consternation when this exchange occurs about 5-10 minutes after Bacon shows up at the “press line”:
[A man walks up to me as I’m shooting pictures of Kevin giving interviews. I am standing about 8-12 feet away, and not using my flash, at this point. There are at least 4 other photographers and 2 video cameras (with lights) pointed at Kevin Bacon.]
BUSYBODY: Excuse me, can you stop taking pictures for a few minutes
ME: what?
B: can you stop taking pictures for a little bit. It’s distracting him while he’s giving interviews.
M: Are you serious?
B: yes, can you just stop for a few minutes?
M: but that’s why I’m here. To take pictures of him.
B: [increasingly agitated] yeah, can’t you just stop for a few minutes?
M: [thoroughly aggravated] are you going to tell the tv guys to stop filming?
B: just forget it [storms off, huffing and puffing]
[a few minutes pass until a woman comes up to me, while another photog is next to me, and again tells us to stop taking pictures for a few minutes because it’s apparently so distracting to a Hollywood actor who has starred in countless films. We stop. Then I move 10 feet away and use a longer lens and continue to take pictures]
Mr. Bacon, interviewed by military press...No explanation was offered other than the absurd assertion that the camera was distracting him during interviews. Was this not a press line? Was the point in having a press line not to have pictures and interviews? Hasn't he walked the "red carpet" at the Oscars, and the SAGs...etc?
I don't know who these people were. I'm betting they were part of the local PR, or Musem handlers, who have no idea about picture taking and press junkets. Kevin never once indicated anything was bothering him. He never gave me a "look". It doesn’t take a few snaps to get a good picture. Many times I can spend a half an hour trying to get something that works and not come up with anything I like. Maybe that says more about me, though. The press line was staged on a balcony with the museum as the backdrop. However, it was dreadfully lit, and we were in an atrium, with the ceiling a good 50 feet above us (nowhere to bounce the flash). So I resorted to bouncing it off my hand, or even waiting for the TV guys to light him and using their light. It takes work. It’s not easy. And to suggest that a Hollywood actor--who’s actually known for having been in so many movies that you can play the six degrees game and link him to any other actor in Hollywood—is distracted by the camera during an interview is completely absurd.
So these photos you see are the best of what I got. And they aren’t even that great. Which only proves my point that it’s not that easy to shoot, and it takes time, and a little creativity. To suggest that I stop taking pictures for a few minutes is to mean that you’re stopping me from doing my job to come away with something interesting.
On a side note, Kevin Bacon seemed to be a very nice person and very humble about the experience of doing this film.
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