ajramirez
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Caguas, Puerto Rico
- Name
- Antonio
Had a bit of a scare while shooting last Sunday that I wanted to share with you.
As I may have mentioned before, my wife's hometown is Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Arecibo is a town in the northern coast of Puerto Rico, which is relatively large in terms of geographic area, but not densely populated. As of a few years now, it has become an economically depressed town. In particular, the downtown area has become somewhat dilapidated, with many empty storefronts and a desolate feel. Nonetheless, it is not known for being a high-crime area.
My inlaws still live in Arecibo, as my father-in-law is still a practicing physician and has his medical office in town. We visited last Sunday and, as I usually do when we visit, I decided to go for a photo walk around town.
When I was almost done with my shoot, and as I was heading back to my in-laws place, a man who was standing about 300 feet from me shouted at me, asking why I was taking so many pictures. I responded that they were artistic photos for a personal project. He asked me to raise my shirt (presumably to see if I was armed) which I did. I turned around, continued walking and turned the corner. When I reached the next corner, a second man approached me and also asked why I was taking so many pictures (I had, of course, stopped photographing at this point). This one was closer to me, and I had to stop. As I explained to him that they were personal photos, the first man appeared at the scene. At this point, I looked around and realized that the three of us were completely alone. This is when I became very worried.
I explained to them (again) that I was an artist and the photos were for personal use. At this point, I showed them my camera (Leica M6) and told them that it was a film camera, and an antique at that. Curiously, this may have convinced them, as it was at that point that they said that they were just concerned because I was not from the area. Seeing an out, I said my goodbyes and left. They did not follow me.
All I can surmise, is that I must have walked by a drug house or something they did not want photographed. The intimidation effort was well coordinated, in particular since the first guy clearly must have alerted the second guy, since I was not in line of sight of both at any time except at the end.
It shook me up quite a bit. It's sad, but I am certain that my photo walks in Arecibo are a thing of the past for me.
In any event, here are some of the shots from that day. All with the Leica M6TTL and either the 35mm 2.5 Summarit or the 18mm 4.0 ZM Distagon. On Ilford Delta 400 processed in Ilfotec DD-X. Processed to enhance the grain and toned in Silver Efex 2.0.
La vecindad - El salón by ramirezaponte, on Flickr
La vecindad - Garage Ferrer by ramirezaponte, on Flickr
La vecindad - El sanitario by ramirezaponte, on Flickr
La vecindad - Espacios reservados by ramirezaponte, on Flickr
View attachment 66233
La vecindad - El contador by ramirezaponte, on Flickr
La vecindad - El alambrado by ramirezaponte, on Flickr
Antonio
As I may have mentioned before, my wife's hometown is Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Arecibo is a town in the northern coast of Puerto Rico, which is relatively large in terms of geographic area, but not densely populated. As of a few years now, it has become an economically depressed town. In particular, the downtown area has become somewhat dilapidated, with many empty storefronts and a desolate feel. Nonetheless, it is not known for being a high-crime area.
My inlaws still live in Arecibo, as my father-in-law is still a practicing physician and has his medical office in town. We visited last Sunday and, as I usually do when we visit, I decided to go for a photo walk around town.
When I was almost done with my shoot, and as I was heading back to my in-laws place, a man who was standing about 300 feet from me shouted at me, asking why I was taking so many pictures. I responded that they were artistic photos for a personal project. He asked me to raise my shirt (presumably to see if I was armed) which I did. I turned around, continued walking and turned the corner. When I reached the next corner, a second man approached me and also asked why I was taking so many pictures (I had, of course, stopped photographing at this point). This one was closer to me, and I had to stop. As I explained to him that they were personal photos, the first man appeared at the scene. At this point, I looked around and realized that the three of us were completely alone. This is when I became very worried.
I explained to them (again) that I was an artist and the photos were for personal use. At this point, I showed them my camera (Leica M6) and told them that it was a film camera, and an antique at that. Curiously, this may have convinced them, as it was at that point that they said that they were just concerned because I was not from the area. Seeing an out, I said my goodbyes and left. They did not follow me.
All I can surmise, is that I must have walked by a drug house or something they did not want photographed. The intimidation effort was well coordinated, in particular since the first guy clearly must have alerted the second guy, since I was not in line of sight of both at any time except at the end.
It shook me up quite a bit. It's sad, but I am certain that my photo walks in Arecibo are a thing of the past for me.
In any event, here are some of the shots from that day. All with the Leica M6TTL and either the 35mm 2.5 Summarit or the 18mm 4.0 ZM Distagon. On Ilford Delta 400 processed in Ilfotec DD-X. Processed to enhance the grain and toned in Silver Efex 2.0.
La vecindad - El salón by ramirezaponte, on Flickr
La vecindad - Garage Ferrer by ramirezaponte, on Flickr
La vecindad - El sanitario by ramirezaponte, on Flickr
La vecindad - Espacios reservados by ramirezaponte, on Flickr
View attachment 66233
La vecindad - El contador by ramirezaponte, on Flickr
La vecindad - El alambrado by ramirezaponte, on Flickr
Antonio