Categories
History of cities

Black Detroit: a people’s history of self-determination.

Cover page of the book Black Detroit by Herb Boyd.
Cover page of the book Black Detroit by Herb Boyd.

As the author Herb Boyd writes, « this is the first book to consider black Detroit from a long view, in a full historical tableau. » (p.14). If you are looking for a significant black person that influenced Detroit’s history, he or she is in the book.

The author covers the arrival of Blacks in Detroit through the Underground Railroad the type of work they could find, the music they created, their need to have their own church to avoid racism, the work at Ford, the influence of trade unions,  the poor housing conditions, etc.

Of course, there are several paragraphs on racism, police repression and useless violence, the problems caused by the KKK and how a few individuals dealt with it, the Smith Act, the American Civil War and the desire the end slavery, the presence of Rosa Parks in the city and  Nelson Mandela’s visit in Detroit in 1990.

There is not only something on the past history and development of Detroit but also thoughts on the future of the city and how it will have to deal with the fact that there are so many people choosing to live in the suburbs instead of in Detroit itself.

Since the fight for equal rights, racism, police repression and the useless deaths of so many black individuals have continued to be an important problem in United States, I have chosen a few quotes from the book on those subjects.

I also chose a paragraph on Nelson Mandela’s visit in Detroit. When Nelson Mandela left United States to fly back to South Africa, his plane had to do a stopover in Iqaluit, in Canada’s Arctic. I was working as a flight service specialist (FSS) at Iqaluit in 1990, so I could see him and Winnie attending an official ceremony in the middle of the night at the airport’s terminal. You can read the real life stories in Iqaluit on my website.

Detroit and Canada.

« In 1795, Detroit was still under British jurisdiction, and the city was a de facto part of Upper Canada. » (p.22)

« Judge Woodward stipulated in a later ruling that if black Americans were to acquire freedom in Canada, they could not be returned to slavery in the United States. “Two of Denison’s children […] took advantage of this ruling by escaping to Canada for a few years and then returning to Detroit as free citizens”. Theirs was a landmark case and would be cited as a precedent in a number of appeals for emancipation by enslaved African Americans. (p.25)

The Smith Act

The Smith Act, was written so that labor organization and agitation for equal rights could be construed as sedition and treason, the same as actually fighting to overthrow the government by force” (p.162)

Police repression and brutality

“[…] Twenty-five blacks had been killed in Detroit while in police custody in 1925, eight times the number killed under police supervision that year in New York City, whose black population was at least twice as large” (p.112)

“During STRESS’s (Stop the Robberies and Enjoy Safe Streets) first year as a death squad – cum – SWAT team [near 1970], the city’s police force had the highest number of civilian killings per capita of any American police department. During its three and a half years of existence, STRESS officers shot and killed 24 men, 22 of them African American.[…] Among the STRESS officers, none was as seemingly problematic as crew chief Raymond Peterson. Before he was assigned to STRESS, he had amassed a record number of complaints. During his first two years on the squad, he took part in nine killings and three nonfatal shootings. Bullets from Peterson’s gun killed five of the victims. No charges were brought in any of these cases.” (p.226-227)

The policeman Raymond Peterson and a murder charge in Detroit in the seventies.
The policeman Raymond Peterson and a murder charge in Detroit in the seventies.

© Detroit Free Press March 23rd 1973

“[Around 1999] gentrification was one thing to worry about, but police brutality was a far more menacing immediacy for young black Detroiters. They were keenly aware there was little mercy awaiting them from the police, nor from school conselors or employment agencies, and certainly not from the drug dealers” (p.292)

“[Around 2001] Detroit, according to reports from several local papers, had the highest number of fatal shootings among the nation’s largest cities” (p.300)

“Throughout the nation over the previous decade, from 1999 to 2009, gun violence had taken the lives of thousands of young black men and women, and hundreds of them were unarmed victims of unwarranted police violence. Few of these terrible tragedies were as heart-wrenching as the killing of seven-year-old Aiyana Jones by a police officer in May 2010. It was around midnight and Aiyana was asleep on the couch with her grandmother nearby watching television. Neither of them had time to react to the thud at the door nor the flash-bang grenade tossed into the living room by the police at the start of the raid.

                Officer Joseph Weekley immediately began firing his MP5 submachine gun blindly through the window into the smoke and chaos. One of the bullets entered Aiyana’s head and exited through her neck. She was killed instantly. The SWAT team had come looking for a murder suspect who lived upstairs but left with only a dead child. […]. » (p.327-328).

Education

Ethelene Crockett, having raised three children, earned a medical degree from Howard University in 1942. She completed her internship at Detroit Receiving Hospital, and because no Detroit hospital would accept an African American woman physician, she did her residency in New York City. Finally in 1952, she was accepted at a hospital in Detroit, becoming the first black woman in her field of obstetrics and gynecology to practice in the state.” (p.163)

No middle-class for young blacks.

“With the traditional routes to middle-class success closed, young black Detroiters sought other means of survival, mainly via the underground economy.” (p.254)

Nelson Mandela in Detroit

“In the summer of 1990, Nelson Mandela toured the United States after spending twenty-seven years in prison. […] When Mandela and his wife, Winnie, emerged from the plane [in Detroit], one of the first people they recognized was Rosa Parks. Nelson Mandela stated that Parks had been his inspiration during the long years he was jailed on Robben Island and that her story had inspired South African freedom fighters’” (p.268).

Detroit’s future

“Most Detroiters live in neighborhoods, and in these areas, development is uneven. There are some flashes of improvement, but by and large, communities are still struggling with unemployment, crime, and low-achieving schools. Detroit is a city with large expanses of uninhabited land and is sprinkled with thirty-one thousand vacant and dilapidated houses. In various pockets throughout town, community-based organizations have worked tirelessly to maintain their respective areas against a tide of neglect and disinvestment. The current mayoral administration has tried to use an assortment of methods to arrest the decline of the neighborhoods, with moderate success. This gargantuan task has been assisted with massive aid from the Obama administration, but the city still has major hurdles ahead with a large poor, unskilled, and semiliterate population.” (p.342).

Click on the link for other books on the history of cities on my blog.

Title : Black Detroit

Author : Herb Boyd

Edition : Amistad

© 2017

ISBN : 978-0-06-234662-9

Categories
Photography Books

Photography Books: The New Street Photographer’s Manifesto

Livre de photographie: "The new street photographer's manifesto" par Tanya Nagar
Livre de photographie: “The new street photographer’s manifesto” par Tanya Nagar

Tanya Nagar is an award-winning photographer from London. Her book, “The new street photographer’s manifesto” is perfect for those who aim to improve their street photography techniques. The present article is not a comprehensive critic of her book but an overview of what a reader will find. I also highlighted some tips in photography that will help to improve the street photographer’s performance.

Tanya’s manifesto not only contains technical advices helping a photographer to improve his shots but also some tips to avoid common mistakes. Subjects include: timing, composition, shooting portraits, framing and juxtaposition, perspective and angles, the choice between landscape and portrait, depth of field, shutter speed, exposure, night photography, rule of thirds, etc.

The book’s content is divided in six categories: 1. Street Photography 2. Where & What to Shoot 3. Seize the Moment 4. Equipment 5. Digital Processing 6. Showcase.

1. Street photography requires the ability to seize a life moment with precision and timing. It is about candid shots and does not have to include humans, as long as it fixes a moment in life. It certainly can include animals (in fact, animals are a very popular subject).

2. It is best if you use a light, discrete camera (even an I-Phone). Walking with a huge camera with big lenses makes you look like a professional photographer and people will see you coming. The trick is to avoid drawing attention. Coughing while clicking drowns out the sound of the camera. You might also think of “shooting from the hip” or “shooting blind”. Those techniques are explained in the book and can be mastered with a bit of practice.

3. It takes a bit of courage to photograph situations that include people since you never know what to expect when you raise your camera. Respect the different cultures and personal space and don’t be afraid to smile and explain what you are doing. If somebody refuses to be photographed, move on, don’t dwell on the situation.

4. In order to gain experience and a feeling of security at taking pictures of people on the street, start with protests or parades.

5. It is a good thing to know the laws pertaining to photography of the country you are visiting. Police officers in some countries might be tempted to order you to delete a shot while they actually don’t have the right to. Often, a misunderstanding by police or security guards of anti-terrorism legislation leads to different interpretations and subsequently to abuse towards a photographer. Just make sure you stay up to date with the country’s regulations.

6. You might think of shooting from within your vehicle to obtain interesting results (while respecting the country’s laws).

7. Use graffitis, signs, graphical billboards, text and advertising logos.

8. Use contrasts like big versus small, light versus dark, rich versus poor, etc.

9. Bear attention to details and look for second degree interpretation of a situation.

10. Look for amusing, funny and unusual captures.

11. Make sure you master your camera in order to be quick when the perfect opportunity comes. Set most of the parameters of the camera before actually arriving on a scene (you already have an idea of the light intensity in the area and the ISO setting that will be required to obtain the speed you desire).

12. Be cautious when it comes to taking pictures of children. Societies change and authorization from the child’s parents is required almost every time.

13. “The only way to avoid missing a moment is by carrying your camera at all times”. Therefore, get something small and light.

Endos du livre de photographie "The new street photographer's manifesto"
Endos du livre de photographie “The new street photographer’s manifesto”

The book holds a section dedicated to multiple types of cameras: rangefinders, SLR and DSLR, four thirds and micro four thirds, medium format, point-and-shoot compact cameras, camera phones, toy and pinhole cameras. Their advantages and disadvantages are clearly explained.

The reader will also find some information about lenses (the best for street photography and what to avoid) and the effects obtained through the use of different type of films (colored, black and white, expired).

The fifth section of the book relates to digital processing and the basic image editing techniques like cropping, rotating, the use of the “Curves” command, as well as dodging and burning.

The final section, “Showcase”, presents many well-known street photographers from around the world, including few photos taken by each of them to allow the reader to have an overview of each photographer’s personal style and creativity. Presented in order are: Antonio Navarro Wijkmark, Brian Quentin Webb, Charlotte Gonzalez, Claire Atkinson, Danny Santos II, Felix Lupa, Ferhat Çelik, Mustafa Abdulaziz, Ronya Galka, Seamus Travers and Severin Koller.

This is certainly a very interesting and practical photography book that will help you avoid costly mistakes (missed photo opportunities or buying the wrong photography equipment) while helping you to improve your knowledge on street photography as much as the quality of your shots.

Here is a link towards Tanya Nagar’s website: Tanya Nagar

For other photography book reviews, click on the following link: Other photography books

Title: The new street photographer’s manifesto.
Author: Tanya Nagar
©The Ilex Press Limited 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4547-0417-1

Categories
Law

Grand angle sur la photographie et la loi

(Un précis sur le droit de la photographie au Québec et au Canada)

Grand angle sur la photographie et la loi
Grand angle sur la photographie et la loi

For those of you who can read French, here is a very interesting handbook. The author, Jean Goulet, is a lawyer by profession and was a full time teacher at the University Laval Faculty of Law in Québec. Himself an amateur photographer, he decided to develop on the many legal questions pertinent to amateur and professional photography.

The author skims through national and international legislation and takes a moment to discuss the Berne Convention. He uses real life examples in order to help the photographer understand the legal consequences of his actions when taking a picture.

Mr Goulet uses Canadian, Québec, French, American and English jurisprudence to highlight the legal aspects in the Aubry, Théberge, Snow, Roby, Ateliers Tango argentin, Xprima affairs, etc.

The reader is informed as to copyright, counterfeiting, reproduction of photos legal limitations, as well as monetary compensation granted regarding defamation. The amateur or professional photographer can learn about the legal obligations pertaining to filming of taking pictures during a show or a theater piece. Details are also provided for anyone interested into photographing animals, expensive private properties, people on a private or public lot, political figures, etc.

Many other aspects are brought forward in this really well done handbook but I cannot present them all in a short article. All you should know is that it is easy to find the information you need and that reading this handbook will help you to take informed decisions before taking pictures.

Here are few points, among many more present in the book that a photographer should know:

[My translation] “The right to take pictures in a private property exists as long as the property owner gives you his authorisation, or is non-existent when the law strictly forbids it”.

[My translation] “ Everybody possessing a personal and exclusive right on his image, nobody can photograph a person and transfer the photo in the public domain without the person’s personal consent, if the photographed person can be recognized and if that person does not hold in the scene a role that is only an accessory role ”.

As well, [My translation] “ If the photographed person is a minor, the photographer will have to obtain the full consent from the child’s parents in order to publish the photo; if the parents cannot come to an agreement, the case will have to be brought to Court (a.604 C.c.Q) ”.

When it comes to copyright: [My translation] “ Photographers hold a copyright as soon as they have used the camera shutter, this copyright protecting their economic rights and including a moral right that they keep even if they have sold copies of their original work, unless they have explicitly gave up that privilege ”.

[My translation]: “Owner or holder of rights, the independent photographer still remains the only master of the photography he created. It is the basic rule when it comes to ownership or rights linked to photography”.

Title : Grand angle sur la photographie et la loi
Author : Jean Goulet
©Wilson&Lafleur Ltée, Montréal, 2010
ISBN : 978-2-89127-972-7