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People Walking Into Court … or … Having More Fun Than Humanly Possible

Posted on January 8, 2009 — 1 Comment ↓

The last time I was in San Angelo I took souvenir photographs of the courthouse and grounds, thinking, “This is it. I’ll never be back to this place.”

As you can guess, I was wrong. But so was the guy who told me something to the effect of, “Today’s custody hearing is going to be over quick— No more than five minutes.”

Barbara Jessop was in court today for a custody hearing on her 14-year-old daughter (who CPS alleges was married to FLDS leader Warren Jeffs when she was 12) who is currently in foster care. So I was after photos of Barbara going in and out of court as well as whatever else I could find. If I was lucky, there would be a good photo to be made.

I was tipped off about which direction they would walk in from. Positioning myself across the street made for a lousy start, as the downtown construction they walked through, well, you can see for yourself (above).

I tried to incorporate the courthouse in a way I hadn’t really done before. There was lots more freedom of movement today, with only me and two video cameramen on the scene.

After they went in it was time to sit and wait. Five minutes went by but the hearing wasn’t over. Then five minutes went by at least twenty more times. While we waited, the TV guys would film anyone who walked into the courthouse, just in case they were involved. One guy, below, who had nothing to do with the FLDS cases, held a blue folder in front of his face to conceal his secret identity:

I thought I had a good angle for when they came out, with the shadows of a tree falling on the columns of the courthouse. It didn’t quite work, with too many people grouped too tight. Here is that shot, cropped loose:

As Barbara walked off with her son Dan and her two attorneys…

…I ran down to shoot with the courthouse behind them. Looking at the photo now, the overly joyous looks on the attorneys’ faces had me thinking of a funny article I read earlier today.

Tagged with: barbara jessop, brett pritchard, cps, dan jessop, flds, Polygamy, san angelo, texas, valerie malara, yearning for zion, yfz
Posted in Photojournalism, Polygamy

YFZ Revisited – April 18, 2008 – The End

Posted on December 17, 2008 — 2 Comments ↓

More photos of reaction to Judge Barbara Walther’s decision to keep over 400 FLDS children in CPS custody. It was a somber parade. I will let the photos speak for themselves.

This is the end of my YFZ Revisited series. Thank you for following it through. I will likely post more photos from Texas and the events of late April, May, June, July, etc. But it won’t be every day.

Tagged with: cps, flds, Polygamy, raid, san angelo, texas, yearning for zion, yfz
Posted in Photojournalism, Polygamy

YFZ Revisited – April 18, 2008 – The Decision

Posted on December 15, 2008 — 1 Comment ↓

At the end of the second day, Judge Barbara Walther made her decision. Over 400 FLDS children would remain in CPS custody. The FLDS began to come out of the Tom Green County Courthouse, and I was looking for reaction. Since they weren’t talking, I was looking for body language to show their emotions. We’ll go in chronological order.

These three ladies were next to come out.

I stayed focused on them as they slowly walked down the steps.

They walked right past me.

And then they were caught in the media pack.

I followed from behind.

For just a little while and then ran back to look for other people.

Tagged with: annette jeffs, cps, flds, Polygamy, raid, san angelo, texas, yearning for zion, yfz
Posted in Photojournalism, Polygamy

YFZ Revisited – April 18, 2008 – Wading In

Posted on December 14, 2008 — No Comments ↓

Only just now did I find this frame and it’s now one of my favorites. Symbolically, I think of someone wading into the surf at oceanside. (The media is the surf.) And thanks to college photographer of the year Tim Hussin for adding so much drama as he runs toward the shot with his camera swinging wide. The more I look at it the more I look at it. Here’s the entire sequence.

So I’m guessing that the woman at right is a CPS escort, accompanying these two women to the courthouse and then back to the shelter where their children are being held.

After my favorite shot up top, this is where we pick up.

The FLDS woman wades into the surf…

The cameras part…

Everyone looking for a comment of any kind…

I don’t think there was one…

Tagged with: cps, flds, Polygamy, raid, san angelo, texas, tim hussin, yearning for zion, yfz
Posted in Polygamy

YFZ Revisited – April 18, 2008 – Walking In

Posted on December 13, 2008 — 1 Comment ↓

I worked this angle a lot, trying to get people and the columns of the Tom Green County Courthouse but I never got a shot as nice as some of the other photographers. The lighting at this moment was too harsh. There were some great photographers covering the hearing who produced amazing, artistic work. I think I left the artistic style behind and went more with a straight documentary approach, looking for content and moments. It’s a constant struggle for me, deciding between the two approaches.

Judge Barbara Walther arrived under heavy security, entering through the back door of the building.

Sam Brower, Brent Jeffs.

This was an interesting moment.

And when these ladies walked up, it seemed like more of the same. Until I looked closer:

Some kind of tag on their arm. These women must have been staying with their children in state custody and had been given the wristband as some kind of ID.

Tagged with: barbara walther, cps, flds, judge barbara walther, judge walther, Polygamy, raid, san angelo, texas, yearning for zion, yfz
Posted in Photojournalism, Polygamy

YFZ Revisited – April 18, 2008 – Day Two Starts

Posted on December 12, 2008 — No Comments ↓

Another early start, I arrive early at court to photograph people as they arrive.

I photograph the group from a distance. Marie is there on the phone. She moves out of sight behind a column.

Waiting for the doors to open.

Tagged with: annette jeffs, cps, flds, Marie Musser, Polygamy, raid, san angelo, texas, yearning for zion, yfz
Posted in Photojournalism, Polygamy

YFZ Revisited – April 17, 2008 – Lunch Break and Beyond

Posted on December 11, 2008 — No Comments ↓

At one point this group exited the courthouse and headed toward City Hall, where a simulcast of the hearing was being broadcast.

They were quickly swarmed by cameras. It’s amazing how interesting people walking down the sidewalk can be at a big news story.

They came to the end of the block and waited at the crosswalk for the light to change.

Notice the smart tactic of the two women standing behind the group. Looking through the photos now, I’m noticing that those two would often walk in the “second row,” behind other FLDS women. Because of this, most of the TV cameras seemed to miss them.

I’m sure reporters were asking questions during all this, but no one said anything.

I circled around.

YFZ Revisited – April 17, 2008 – Hearing Begins

Posted on December 10, 2008 — No Comments ↓

Officers outside the Tom Green County Courthouse to provide security for the mandatory 14-day custody hearing for over 400 children removed from the FLDS Church’s YFZ Ranch.

People began arriving pretty early. I had met this woman the day before when we poked our heads into her SUV. She stood outside the courthouse for a brief moment while the man she walked in with (her attorney?) talked with some reporters.

Two very different emotions in the photo above and the one below, considering that she would either have her kids returned or kept in custody in the hearing to follow.

In walk the attorneys for the FLDS: Rod Parker, “spokesman” Willie Jessop, Richard Wright, Bruce Griffen (he’s back there somewhere).

I love the look on her face after wading through the media, who gathered in a pack at this entryway. Doesn’t she look calm in contrast to their frenzy?

Out of the 400+ attorneys who came to the hearing to represent all sides, Susan Hays was the only one who stopped to talk. She became a regular fixture in news reports on the case. If she was a cartoon character, her catchphrase would be, “I won’t talk about my client.”

The line began to form outside the courthouse, and pretty soon it stretched halfway across the block.

Tagged with: annette jeffs, cps, flds, media, Polygamy, raid, rod parker, san angelo, texas, willie jessop, yearning for zion, yfz
Posted in Photojournalism, Polygamy

YFZ Revisited – April 6, 2008 – Media and Diversity

Posted on November 18, 2008 — 2 Comments ↓

There were a lot more cameras and reporters at today’s press conference at Eldorado High School. Marleigh Meisner of Texas CPS confirmed a total of 159 children and 60 adults removed from the FLDS YFZ Ranch to this point.

We drive over by the Civic Center where a crew working for Oprah is interviewing Shannon Price of the Diversity Foundation, which helps teens leaving the FLDS sect (above), and Carolyn Jessop, the bestselling author and ex-FLDS member (below). Jessop is the ex-wife of Merrill Jessop, the overseer of the YFZ Ranch.

They say they’ve been brought in by Texas authorities to help provide cultural understanding and to facilitate communication with the FLDS. It seems unlikely that Jessop and Price would receive any welcome from the FLDS here in Texas, considering their positions against Warren Jeffs’ fundamentalist church.

I photograph Shannon’s badge to make sure I spell her name right. I send in a photo with her name correct, but something else wrong. I heard Shannon say that she had family roots in the Short Creek community and in my caption I mistakenly called her a former FLDS member.

Carolyn expressed hope in the possibility of seeing some of the children (from sister-wives) that she left behind when she took her own eight children and left the community.

I don’t know if that meeting ever occurred, though it seems doubtful Jessop would receive any welcome under these conditions.

There seemed to be this prevailing thought among the people involved in the raid, especially CPS. That is that once the women were safely off the ranch and out of the control of the FLDS men, they would be happy to leave the group for the outside world. As far as we know, not one person caught up in the raid has left the group. They all went back.

Tagged with: carolyn jessop, child protective services, cps, diversity foundation, eldorado, flds, marleigh meisner, oprah, Polygamy, raid, shannon price, texas, yearning for zion, yfz
Posted in Photojournalism, Polygamy

Turnabout – YFZ

Posted on June 27, 2008 — 4 Comments ↓

About three weeks ago I took this photo of a nine-year-old FLDS boy at the YFZ ranch who had just been reunited with his family after spending two months in state custody. (You can read about that here.)

Yesterday we were out at the ranch and I saw him again. I didn’t photograph him this time, because if I bug him too much he says I’ll turn into a cockroach. But as we were leaving he picked up my camera and we turned the tables on each other, as he took this photograph of me:

Tagged with: cps, eldorado, flds, Polygamy, texas, yearning for zion, yfz
Posted in Photojournalism, Polygamy