I am still working on new additions to the photo stock on the website and ran across a couple of images and a funny story about one of them. Well, at least I think it's funny and since I don't really want to "Rant" two days in a row I thought I would lighten up a bit. Not all the way as you will see, but at least on a frivolous note.
Commercial fishermen on the Chesapeake Bay are called "watermen". I guess for lack of a better term but that's what we have called them for a millennium or so. They are a fiercely independent bunch carving out a gradually diminishing living on the countries largest estuary. For the most part they are men (that's changing though) and they do work on the water. They catch most fish that swim in the bay as well as crabs, clams, and a few oysters. One of the most fruitful products of their labor is fishing for, catching, and shipping soft clams or manano. The clam is actually one of the biggest money producers for the watermen and is much sought after. Hence, the clam is known pretty much known throughout the mid-Atlantic region and New England to where most of them are shipped. The local folks just take them for granted as something that grows in the bay and provides some with an income and some others with tasty treats. Sorry Peta!
The Clam rigs are expensive running over a hundred thousand dollars when all is said and done. Therefore, waterman such as Jimmy Black of Rock Hall, MD have to work very hard just to make ends meet. However, they are their own boss and are the epitome of small business in this country. They like me can't apply for unemployment either....OK, enough! Now, for the real rant.
I am the only living photographer, that I know, who has been banned from showing his work at BWI (Thats the old name) Airport in Baltimore, MD. The Photo on the top of this page was one of many pictures purchased by an agency in New York City to provide images for above the ticket counters at the airport. They took this little image and enlarged it to four feet by sixteen feet long! Had to use some mirrors and stuff, but it was big and I was proud! Not to mention the nice check which accompanied the whole deal.
Now in comes the political correctness. Someone complained about the image and the airport caved. It had to come down. Well, I did get paid and gave them another one which was less controversial. I did ask for a press release as to why it was removed, but to no avail. I won't bore you dear reader with the reasoning behind the objection, but suffice to say a lady thought it was too delicate to show in public. She must not have been familiar with the industry or just had never seen an aroused clam before! Off to do a shoot in Charleston and be back over the week-end.
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