By Carlos Miller
She weighed less than 100 pounds, but that didn’t stop her from aggressively grabbing my lens when I tried to photograph her.
And the only reason I even tried to photograph her was because she had threatened to call the cops on me after I refused to hand over my driver license.
At the time, I had figured I might as well capture this surreal moment as nobody would believe me if I did not have photographic evidence.
It all started last Wednesday when I was working on an article for Miami Beach 411 about the strip of computer stores just north of Miami International Airport.
I had walked into several stores, interviewing various store clerks and customers about how one can find better deals on computer parts and other electronic equipment at these locations that are tucked away in a warehouse district off of Milan Dairy Road.
There was one store that was busier than the rest. I won’t even mention the name of the store because the woman’s husband has already apologized for her aggressive behavior during a phone conversation on Friday (thanks to the Californian diplomacy of Miami Beach 411 editor, Gus Moore, who smoothed the situation out after I informed him of what happened ).
I stopped into the store twice but both times they were swamped with customers and I really did not want to interrupt business for a few basic questions. I had just started working on the article, so I figured I would get back to them later.
I stepped back outside and snapped a few shots, trying to capture the outside as well as the bustling business inside. This is a tricky shot because you need to properly expose the inside as well as the outside. It’s easy to overexpose the outside as it is to underexpose the inside of the store.
When I started walking back to my car, a young Asian woman called after me. I was a little surprised because I had just seen her inside the store and she appeared to have had her hands full dealing with various customers.
She asked the usual question, “why are you taking photos of my business”.
And I responded in a professional, even cheerful, manner by informing her of my article.
“The reason I didn’t say anything was because you were so busy,” I said. “I was going to call you later”.
I gave her my business card, which states my name and company and describes me as a “writer, reporter and photojournalist”.
At this point, a young Asian man had stepped outside and stood behind her. I repeated my story to him in the hopes he would understand the situation. He nodded, but didn’t seem to have authority over the woman.
The woman scanned my business card and informed me that I had no legal right to photograph her business, even if I was standing outside.
Then she demanded to see my driver license.
That is when my cheerfulness began to subside.
I flatly refused to give her my license and I informed her that I had every right to photograph her business.
“In fact, I have every legal right to photograph you,” I said as I reached up with my camera to snap a photo of her (this just infuriates the hell out of people). Update: I did not take her photo with the intent to piss her off. I took her photo knowing it was going to piss her off. I took her photo for the purpose of documenting the altercation for this blog.
I managed to get one shot off before she had her hands wrapped around my Canon 24-7-L f/2.8, a $1,200 lens attached to a $3,000 Canon 5D body.
I pulled the camera out of her hand and raised my left finger, telling her in a very serious tone, “don’t ever do that again.”
Even the Asian guy behind her told her to back off.
She responded by telling him to “call 911″ for the umpteenth time, but he didn’t seem to eager to call the cops.
I informed her I was leaving and started walking to my car, which prompted her to proclaim that I was not allowed to leave the area because the cops were on their way.
Perhaps she was under the impression that the Asian guy had already called 911. Either way, I was not going to stand around waiting for the cops to arrive.
In a normal world, I might have done just that, just to gain the satisfaction of watching the cops inform the store owner that I had every legal right to photograph her business from the outside.
But this is South Florida, where police are just as clueless about photographers’ rights as this store owner.
So as I walked to my car with her yapping at my heels, yelling at me that I was not allowed to leave. I told her to write my license plate number down to give to the cops when they arrive.
This being Miami-Dade Police jurisdiction, that could have been another two hours.
Even after I photographed her as she wrote my license plate number down, we continued to debate about the legalities of photographing her business from the outside.
Finally, she walked away, but not before flicking me off.
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33 responses so far ↓
1 Squathole // Mar 24, 2008 at 8:39 AM
I need to get myself a camera. What a great way to pick up girls! Cute ones with attitude, my personal favor. Rowr.
It’s Monday. Wonder if the cops made it there yet.
2 Ms Calabaza // Mar 24, 2008 at 10:59 AM
little ankle-biter at your heels! LOL
3 Gus Moore // Mar 24, 2008 at 11:12 AM
Carlos, sorry you were treated so rudely. We stand behind you 100%. The store clerk who confronted you is usually very personable. She must have been having an off day. Glad you were able to work things out with the owner of the store.
4 FerfelaBat // Mar 24, 2008 at 1:01 PM
OK But if someone is standing outside your home taking pictures, I would want to know why? So, maybe she lives there in the back or something.
Did you ask her out? Feisty and cute. can’t go wrong there.
5 Daniel @ Garanhuns // Mar 24, 2008 at 1:13 PM
Dude, why don’t you pick a safer beat, like Iraq, or tribe warfare in Africa? You get yourself into some really weird pickles. Interesting reading though. Be careful man. You never know when some subject will be packing, remember its South Florida.
6 srcohiba // Mar 24, 2008 at 1:15 PM
she was kind of cute but she would not have gotten a finger on my lens though ;-D
7 Carlos Miller // Mar 24, 2008 at 3:57 PM
Squathole,
I have had better luck picking up women using a puppy.
Ms C,
That’s exactly what it felt like as I was walking back to my car.
Gus,
Thanks, Gus. You’re a stand-up editor. Not to many of those around anymore.
FerfelaBat,
She also had a big old wedding ring, which you can sort of see in the top picture. I may be a risk-taker, but I tend to avoid married women.
Cohiba,
But you have to love the framing of her face.
8 genewitch // Mar 24, 2008 at 5:42 PM
Heh, you seem to have these issues a lot… perhaps we should look into the whys?
Do you look like a photojournalist? i mean i know that’s passing judgement and all. but if you look at my pictures and try to imagine me taking pictures of people i’d get harassed too. from your earlier video you look like a blue collar guy. maybe they figure you’re going to sue. Blame the state of the union for that.
On a side note, we’re almost ready to begin to try to get arrested while filming stock footage out here in glorious louisiana. Wish us luck!
(we’re doing 2 music videos, upbeat, and melancholy. there’s enough stuff out here to get both done, just a little driving between them_)
9 genewitch // Mar 24, 2008 at 5:44 PM
Oh and i apologize if i come off rude or whatever. I tend to pretend that no one will read my comments when i post them. Feel free to ignore me!
But your poem was good, and i liked hearing you recite it, that’s why i offered to put music to it if you felt like getting me a digital copy of you doing the spoken word. I think it would come out nice.
PS i have 11 years now as a music producer, so it’s not like i’m a lightweight.
10 Manuel A. Tellechea // Mar 24, 2008 at 6:14 PM
Carlos:
Please don’t tell me that these Oriental were also Vietnamese? Can it possibly be that you have confronted another group of anti-Communist exiles? Like the Cubans they no doubt suspected that you were photographing them on behalf of their Communist foes back home. You must become more culturally sensitive and recognize that many of these good people still live in a culture of fear.
At this time especially I should advice you to avoid photographing anti-Communist Tibetans protesting against the Chinese. Any kind of confrontation with them will really look bad (for you).
11 scg // Mar 24, 2008 at 6:52 PM
It is amazing that people walk all over the place with a dozen cameras photographing their every muscle twitch; be it a traffic cam, ATM cam, police cam, you name it. They are on film every day! But when a photographer openly and honestly takes legal photos – they freak out.
Keep up the good work Carlos!
SCG
12 Carlos Miller // Mar 24, 2008 at 7:04 PM
scg,
And the irony is that the store this lady owns, as well as most of the other stores in that area, specialize in selling security cameras.
I have no doubt our altercation was captured on a security camera pointed towards the parking lot.
13 Carlos Miller // Mar 24, 2008 at 7:05 PM
Manuel,
I believe she was a Chinese anti-communist exile.
Funny thing about these exiles, they seek democracy but they don’t know how it really works.
14 Carlos Miller // Mar 24, 2008 at 7:08 PM
genewitch,
I think the problem is that because I am a freelancer, I don’t have credentials that show I am working for a large newspaper like the Miami Herald.
I have a press pass I made for my company that says Magic City Media, but it’s not really the same thing because most people have never heard of Magic City Media, but they all know the Miami Herald.
Had I shown a press pass that says The Miami Herald, she most likely would not have demanded my driver license.
And I most likely would not have been arrested last year.
I’ll see if I can get a recording of myself reciting the full poem for you to put to music.
15 MiamiDanny // Mar 24, 2008 at 7:28 PM
A woman you describe as ‘Asian’, who is “yapping at your heels”. Maybe she detected your not-so-subtle racism and and thought that you were up to no good. Of course you have the right to photograph people, and to be a douche. You’re definitely good at at least one of theses things.
16 Carlos Miller // Mar 24, 2008 at 7:37 PM
Danny,
She would have been yapping at my heels if she were black, white or Hispanic. It’s more of a metaphor on her size, not her ethnicity.
BTW, I used to enjoy your wine bar. I was sad to see it shut down.
Of course, I had no idea you were one of these people to pull out the race card when you have no clue who I am.
You’re almost as bad as those right-wingers accusing Obama of white hate because of some sermon he attended.
17 MiamiDanny // Mar 24, 2008 at 8:02 PM
Don’t be so sensitive, brother. I’m the biggest douche there is. But it sounded pretty racist to me to describe someone Asian as you would a dog, whether you were consciously saying that, or, as I suspect, unconsciously.
18 MiamiDanny // Mar 24, 2008 at 8:04 PM
Oh, and, incidentally, comparing yourself to Barack Obama is pretty self-serving, if not downright laughable. Luvya, babe.
19 MiamiDanny // Mar 24, 2008 at 8:07 PM
And as a journalist, you should know it wasn’t “some sermon he attended”, but that the guy was his long-time pastor and spiritual leader. And I admire the way BHO handled it. With grace and understanding.
20 Carlos Miller // Mar 24, 2008 at 8:11 PM
I wasn’t comparing myself to Obama, I was comparing you to the right-wingers.
Here is a look behind the sermon that is raising so much ruckus.
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/21/the-full-story-behind-rev-jeremiah-wrights-911-sermon/
21 Squathole // Mar 25, 2008 at 8:43 AM
Dear Language Police, Wherever You Are:
Is it okay to describe an Asian woman of small stature as a “Little Chihuahua?” Please advise.
P.S. Where’s Tom Fiddler when we need him least?
22 FerfelaBat // Mar 25, 2008 at 6:33 PM
Bwhahahahah! I love you Squathole. In like a — you know fellow snarker in crime kind of way.
You need a press credential badge, Carlos. Business card just isn’t enough aparently.
23 srcohiba // Mar 25, 2008 at 6:55 PM
actually I was impressed that you framed the pic as you did …
too bad you didn’t have a fisheye on the camera though
24 enhager // Mar 28, 2008 at 12:18 AM
That is a great photo – right before she kicked your …
25 Jeremy Brooks // May 12, 2008 at 1:23 PM
Hey Carlos,
That’s a fantastic shot. It really captures the moment. As you know, I have pretty strong feelings about what we can and cannot photograph as photographers living in the U.S. While I try to defuse these kinds of situations, conflict sometimes happens anyway.
Thanks for the post.
26 glenn // Mar 6, 2009 at 8:03 AM
Probably another shady Miami shop selling gray market licenses on the computers. I wonder if a Microsoft rep has been in there lately?
1-800-RU-LEGIT
27 douglas // Mar 7, 2009 at 2:42 AM
Geez, i thought “asian” was politically correct. My drill sargents were all ‘Nam vets, so I entered adult life hearing “Slopes, monkeys, guks, chinks, rice heads, and singing “naplam sticks to kids” on a five mile run with 200 other right wingers.
Keep doing the good work Carlos.
here in california they have a redlight photo ticket thing set up at a light that has like a 1.7 second yellow. 500 people tried to fight the photo ticket and were all given convictions.
We need the camera on our side!
good comment Glen on the boot leg software! China is well know for bootleg movie video, imitation rolexs and other copywrite violations, they just come over here and do the same thing.
28 heuristic // Mar 14, 2009 at 5:57 AM
The uninvited photography of the person is an assault. I would have knocked you down and smashed the camera.
29 Carlos Miller // Mar 14, 2009 at 10:41 AM
What a surprise. Another anonymous commenter who talks a big game.
30 MillerTime // Mar 14, 2009 at 11:37 AM
Heuristic, you are a tool. It took more than four cops just to arrest CM, you wouldn’t stand a chance.
31 Bill // May 13, 2009 at 11:15 AM
heuristic..
How is taking a picture assault?
Danny..
How is calling someone Asian racist?
32 leek // Aug 16, 2009 at 12:36 AM
I know this is out of date, but:
Carlos, you didn’t hide the identity of the store very well — it’s in plain site in your pictures:
http://www.kaiduweb.com/
Why are you trying to protect her? You had every right to photograph her and publish her business’s name. People in that area, and web store owners, deserve to know.
You are not libeling anyone.
33 Tom Jones // Sep 1, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Carlos – this is totally off-topic, but do you have an opinion on the sharpness, or lack of, in Canon lenses?
thx
Tom
Seattle
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