Britain's treatment of photographers makes undemocratic Cuba look angelic

[Roger Hicks]

Yes, I know this article. But here we are under the Vigipirate law (since september 2001). Try to take a picture in the subway when the rambos are at your side, or try to take a picture of a nuclear power plant, or a railway station from the inside... I have experienced this, and was forced to give my film...:bang: National security, they said. It is sure Al Qaida uses 1955 Rolleiflex to prepare bomb attacks...

Yes, but as you say, it's the brain-dead Rambos interpreting the law in the way they want, not necessarily the law itself.

You can get a lot of plastique inside a Rollei!

Amitiés,

R.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Really? I took a History Of England course in college too and don't remember any revolutions either. Maybe you refresh our failing memories. Our conversation began w/ the stories last year of the MOPs gorging themselves at the public trough...acts which inexcusably weren't against the law. At least when our congressmen do it, they can get caught and sent to prison.

Ummm...

Wat Tyler?

Wars of the Roses?

Civil War?

Glorious Revolution?

Did you pass your History of England course?

Cheers

 

[Sparrow]

As my ex co-worker teacher from the UK (and political science major) used to say when I asked him about the lack of personal freedom and individual rights in the UK, "Remember, we never had a revolution".

Cuba is so happy anybody visits their country and spends money, they'd just about let you do anything there.

We had a Glorious Revolution, I'll have you know ... and we had a Bill of Rights ages before you did, so there

 

[Sparrow]

Which Tyler ... the pedants revolt ...

 

[nksyoon]

And finally, while people may have reservations about Castro's Cuba, Batista's regime was unquestionably deeply vile. If the US government had looked beyond the label 'communist', and continued to trade with Cuba, Fidel might not have turned out so stridently anti-USA. And the standard of living of Cubans would almost certainly be a lot higher today.

I believe Castro didn't even call himself a communist until the US rejected any negotiations and he had to turn to the Soviet Union for support. Che was regarded as more of a hardline communist than Fidel.

On photography in modern-day Cuba, I've heard anecdotes of foreign photojournalists being informed unofficially they were no longer welcome in Cuba because their pictures were used or exhibited outside Cuba in a "negative" context - negative to the regime's preferred public image of Cuba, or gently warned about specific images that had been published.

This is what Reporters without Borders has to say about Cuba:

http://www.rsf.org/en-pays174-Cuba.html

 

[Rayt]

Well, you could argue that the USA never had a revolution either. They had a rebellion against the legitimate government, and because they won, they were allowed to call it a revolution.



Cheers,

R.

I recall it was over taxes and a bunch of rich land owners in wigs.

 

[Bob Michaels]

<snip> ... but I guess any reference to freedom of rights and Cuba/Castro in the one post is going to create a little angst for some!

But this angst, or any comments, will not be on this site from at least one member.

 

[payasam]

Well said, Mael. If you come to India, just eat my world famous Paradise Goat and sleep it off. Do not take photographs. We have Ram, the grand-daddy of Rambo.

[edit] Right you are, Bob. That's how I come to address one man as "Gentlemen".

 

[bmattock]

I was just enjoying the photo - Castro with an American camera, in the Soviet Union, whilst Kruschev looks on approvingly. No one else finds that ironic or amusing?

 

[payasam]

A camera is a commodity, commodities can come from anywhere, and commodities do not carry ideological baggage. If only you had put quote marks around the bit you quoted.... Not that the Daily Telegraph has ever been worth quoting except as a comic book equivalent, a sort of dim witted MAD magazine...

 

[telemetre]

Let's talk about revolution, it happens always the same way :

Poors are annoying. They are always hungry. They finally will have just one option to express themselves : violence.

And for us, whom are quietly drinking bourbon and discussing on RFF about buying a M9 or M8, we will not understand why we are hanged on a rope, after spending a life to vote for respectable political which never gave a tribute to these poor people...

When angry crowd will have grown up sufficiently, I think we will have far less troubles about deciding which camera to choose...

Perfect visualization, except I somehow always thought I would be against the wall ...

I wonder if it would be safer to take pictures during a revolution or present day London?

 

[bmattock]

A camera is a commodity, commodities can come from anywhere, and commodities do not carry ideological baggage. If only you had put quote marks around the bit you quoted.... Not that the Daily Telegraph has ever been worth quoting except as a comic book equivalent, a sort of dim witted MAD magazine...

Commodities did indeed carry ideological baggage when the Soviets were proclaiming the superiority of their system and the West was trumpeting theirs. These were different times. I find the photo ironic. If you don't, well, I have nothing to offer you. Humor is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.

 

[payasam]

The beholder with the funny eye must also be able to identify the camera as a product of the USA, and that is asking a great deal.

 

[payasam]

I must be the wrong age, then: because memory tells me that, at the time when Castro was photographed taking a photograph, there were other cameras in existence which folded and had bellows. Maybe they don't exist now: I wouldn't know. Perhaps someone of the right age -- and from the correct sub-forum -- will tell me what "folders" means today.

 

[Michael Markey]

Interesting to hear how some UK newspapers are described in pejoratve terms. Thus the Telegraph is a rag and recently the Mail was described as "notoriously" right wing. I suppose that is as opposed to the Guardian being "notoriously" left wing ?

 

[Roger Hicks]

Interesting to hear how some UK newspapers are described in pejoratve terms. Thus the Telegraph is a rag and recently the Mail was described as "notoriously" right wing. I suppose that is as opposed to the Guardian being "notoriously" left wing ?

Not some -- ALL. This is quite an old joke as you can tell form the references to the Times (it may have been true once) and to the Daily Worker:

The Times is read by those who run the country.

The Telegraph is read by those who used to run the country.

The Guradian is read by those who think they ought to run the country.

The Financial Times is read by those who own the country.

The Mail is read by those who think that foreigners run the country.

The Daily Worker is read by those who think Russia should run the country.

The Sun is read by those who don't care who runs the country as long as the girl on page 3 has big Bristols. (Rhyming slang: Bristol City)

Cheers,

R.

 

[user237428934]

I was just enjoying the photo - Castro with an American camera, in the Soviet Union, whilst Kruschev looks on approvingly. No one else finds that ironic or amusing?

Yes. And in my city there is a Karl-Marx-Straße. It's a dead-end-street. I think this is quite amusing too.

 

[Mael]

Not some -- ALL. This is quite an old joke as you can tell form the references to the Times (it may have been true once) and to the Daily Worker:

The Times is read by those who run the country.

The Telegraph is read by those who used to run the country.

The Guradian is read by those who think they ought to run the country.

The Financial Times is read by those who own the country.

The Mail is read by those who think that foreigners run the country.

The Daily Worker is read by those who think Russia should run the country.

The Sun is read by those who don't care who runs the country as long as the girl on page 3 has big Bristols. (Rhyming slang: Bristol City)

Cheers,

R.

Someone actually runs the country in the UK ?

I never noticed. Just noticed some people having their appartments freshly repainted with public funds...

 

[35mmdelux]

dude, there's nothing to blow up in Cuba! They dont even have toilet paper unless you're a tourist.

"freedom of rights and Cuba/Castro"

What paper are you reading? Worker Daily? LOL.

 

[Solinar]

Cuba is a nice place to visit if you have Pesos Convertibles in your wallet. I don't think you can get into the tourist destinations with ordinary Pesos Nacionales.

Make sure that you buy your cigars from the official state owned store and leave the jineteras be.

Life isn't easy for the average Cuban, as I'll add for most folks living on the larger Caribbean Islands. Enjoy the sun and the culture, but don't come home thinking that you've been to paradise.