YFZ Revisited – April 5, 2008 – Bus to Civic Center

Posted on November 11, 2008 by Trent Nelson

I’m finally making progress editing my photographs from the April raid on the FLDS YFZ Ranch near Eldorado, Texas. Looking through the photos for the first time since I shot them, I’m noticing things that I hadn’t before. I’ll post more of those kinds of things later. This post is all about scrambling, trying to find something worthwhile and coming up short.

We rise early and head to a roadblock manned by Texas troopers. After I photograph the roadblock I start photographing other things that catch my eye: an old mattress, a sun-bleached skull, and a kid stuck trying to get through a fence. Omens? Signs of what’s going on? Or just the way this part of Texas looks?

We wait five hours for something to happen and finally a bus comes out from the ranch. I shoot photos of the bus, and there’s at least one FLDS woman/girl on board.

We, along with several other media vehicles, follow the police-escorted bus to the local civic center, one of the temporary shelters set up by CPS. The civic center is the more secure location, barricaded off from traffic. We all park across the highway from the civic center and photograph the scene.

CPS workers line up in what I’m guessing was an attempt to shield any FLDS from our cameras. I’m shooting with a 600mm lens and a 1.4 teleconverter, right through some kind of fence. The shot is horrible but so far it’s all we’ve got for today so we are all trying to get something out of it.

We see a pair of young FLDS women, at least one with a baby. The girl in the pink dress is loaded into the white car and driven off. For the rest of the photos, click through this gallery:

YFZ Revisited – April 4, 2008

Posted on November 7, 2008 by Trent Nelson

Just minutes after I photographed the food I noticed that a bus had pulled up down the street. Even in the dark I could see the heads of children on the bus.

It was really dark, but I had a fast 50/1.4 lens that would let me shoot without flash. I quickly snapped the photo above as a test frame to check my exposure. The women and children walked to the First Baptist Church and I clicked off twenty quick frames in the dark.

That photo ended up being used all over the place. Looking through all twenty frames, I see that some of the children noticed me and others appeared not to. Here are more frames, some of which have never been published before:

I wrote this about the technical aspect of shooting the photo on the blog back in April:

A few notes about the photo, which I feel captures an historic moment in the FLDS story. First, there had to be some sensitivity in the taking of the photograph. Luckily, I brought along a 50/1.4 lens so that I wouldn’t need to use flash. Popping a flash at children who were just taken from their parents and homes would not have been compassionate. Like a good backpacker, I wanted to leave a minimal footprint. So I shot available light, something like 1/30th at f1.4 at ISO 800. Maybe when I’m actually awake I’ll actually tone and sharpen it for you, but it’s been a long day.

Back then I also wrote a bit about how the volunteers (and knowing more now, CPS) didn’t want me there and definitely didn’t want any photographs taken. But we were standing on a public sidewalk so there was little they could do.

Immediately after shooting this sequence I walked across the street to the car and began sending photos back to the office, just ahead of deadline. Then I went back to look for more photo possibilities. You can see how the doors to this room of the church have vertical slit windows. I could see the occasional FLDS woman through these windows but before I got a shot off a short-haired woman with light-colored pants (she’s in the last two photos above) approached me with several other locals. One was the mayor of Eldorado. They were very angry at my presence.

The mayor asked who I was and what I was doing there. I told him. The woman asked if I had taken any photos. I said yes. Around this point an officer led me off to the side away from the group and told me that while he knew I had every right to photograph from the sidewalk, these locals were really pissed off that I was there and if I stayed much longer, he wouldn’t be able to guarantee my safety.

We evaluated the situation and decided to leave, knowing we had the shot (which would run across the entire width of the next day’s front page) and knowing we would be back early in the morning. I wrote this back then about us leaving:

Some of the volunteers at the church clearly didn’t want me taking photographs. They were good people looking out for the FLDS, who are very private people. I can understand their feelings. But this is an important story. I try to work with the same compassion they were feeling for the children. Once we had the photo, we left. In the morning we’ll go back and hopefully it will be more obvious that while we’re serious journalists, we’re not “THE MEDIA.”

My perception has changed substantially from what I wrote then. While there were privacy expectations (as there would be in any child-protective action), the story of the YFZ Raid was heavily media-managed from the start. In some cases they were following official policy and/or state law, but Texas officials would limit access to the photography of this story nearly every step of the way.

Revisiting the YFZ Raid

Posted on November 5, 2008 by Trent Nelson

For months I have been putting off the task of editing my photos from Texas’ raid on the FLDS Yearning For Zion (YFZ) ranch in Eldorado. I just couldn’t bring myself to look again. To this day, over 100 gigabytes of my photographs from four months of work have not had a proper edit. I backed them up several times for safekeeping and let them sit.

The prospect of going through these photographs is daunting on so many levels. For one, I feel a huge responsibility to history. But the real reason I’d been avoiding the edit is that covering the raid took a huge toll on me emotionally. And this next sentence isn’t any opinion on whether the raid was right or wrong, or whether polygamy is right or wrong, or whether the FLDS are right or wrong:

The raid on the YFZ Ranch, the removal of 460+ children and all that came after was very painful for all involved. Whatever side you’re on (if you think the children were rightfully removed due to abuse or if you think they were wrongfully removed due to persecution), this was a tragic event to witness. Seeing families broken up, for justified or unjustified reasons, has shaken me. It was tough.

I opened up the first folder of images this morning. They were pictures from the first day, just a few dozen photographs taken late the night we arrived in Eldorado. It can’t be that bad, I thought, only thirty-two images to look through.

I was wrong.

I only got halfway through before I couldn’t go any further. Once I saw that iconic photograph of the young FLDS women and children walking through the dark, carrying bundles and babies toward the First Baptist Church, the emotions swelled up and I could not continue. Maybe I’ll try again tomorrow.

The first eleven photos seem mundane but they have turned out to be quite interesting now that we know what happened. They show two volunteers (who, I should note, did not want to be photographed) unloading groceries and diapers for the FLDS children being brought to the church-turned-shelter.

That first night, I didn’t realize that FLDS children from YFZ didn’t eat the food that modern American eats: processed foods, potato chips, etc. They eat almost a completely organic, mostly vegetarian diet.

Only days later would stories emerge of the children getting sick in shelters, their bodies having to adjust from their all-natural diets to the modern food provided by the state in the shelters.

Texas officials claimed they would provide a healthier environment for the children than what they had at home on the YFZ Ranch, and then handed out bags of Doritos.

Hildale From Outer Space

Posted on November 4, 2008 by Trent Nelson

Have I said this before? That I would be a rich man if only I’d started a wall-building company in Short Creek five years ago?

As camera crews from all over the world invaded the twin towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona chasing the story of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs and his FLDS followers, the people of the community found ways to preserve their privacy. Like building walls around their homes.

Photo from Google Maps

I think this desire for privacy from prying eyes is a natural thing, whether or not you’re living an illegal lifestyle. The walls have always fascinated me and I’ve spent a lot of time photographing them.

There are amazing photographs that could be made in the FLDS community. But for all the time I’ve spent photographing, those amazing photos always seem to be just out of reach. There are a number of reasons for that. One is the distance. It’s been difficult for me to travel that far south for any length of time this year.

I was in Short Creek last month for just a single day. It felt good to get the rental car coated in red, rusty dust as I drove around town. But the trip was too short.

This morning I’m at home in my slippers cruising the streets of Short Creek, thanks to technology. I just noticed that Google Maps has recently upgraded their satellite coverage of Hildale. You can now zoom in with extreme clarity and count the number of trampolines in backyards behind the privacy walls. They haven’t upgraded the coverage of Colorado City yet so on the Arizona side things get really fuzzy, as this screenshot shows:

Photo from Google Maps

I’m still not seeing any people outside, but once I’ve got the kids’ lunches made and sent them off to school this morning I’ll pour myself a bowl of Lucky Charms and take another quick trip through Hildale.

Picking the (Strawberries) Photo

Posted on August 11, 2008 by Trent Nelson

201 photographs I made in the FLDS house in Westcliffe, Colorado, as several women sliced and bagged strawberries.

Someone sent me a question about editing, asking, “How do you know that ‘this is the photo‘??? Just wondering if it’s a great talent, or does it just look good or what?”

There are two steps to finding the great photo: Shooting and Editing.

1. Shooting. When I’m photographing a situation like this, I’m looking for the three things that make up a great documentary photograph.

A. Dramatic and storytelling elements (the content). Obviously there will be few dramatic moments when the subject is food preparation, but there might be small moments where people interact or show a little emotion (a laugh, a smile, etc.)

Storytelling elements in this case that would be things like the portraits of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs on the wall and the unique hairstyles and dress of the women in the photo above. Another storytelling element present is the communal effort, so showing a lot of people in the photograph illustrates that.

B. Graphic design (the art).

This photograph has strong lines, coupled with the moment of the boys grabbing a snack.

Good graphic design to me is clean and functional, drawing the viewer’s eye across the image and to the points you want to emphasize without including a lot of distracting elements. In this situation the better photographs have a nice design and structure to them, and that’s what will separate the good from the bad.

C. Good technique (great lighting, perfect exposure and focus).

In today’s modern fluorescent world, good light indoors is hard to come by. So when I noticed the light coming through the window on this young woman’s face, I worked it for a while shooting a lot of loose and tight frames. It’s certainly not amazing light, but it’s a small detail that makes it a better photograph.

I know that these three examples are very subtle examples of the concepts I’m talking about. But maybe that will help you to look closely at what makes them stand out. That’s how I look at photographs. I look at all of the small details that make up the photograph. And the best photographs are strong in all three categories (content, art, and technique).

2. Editing. Now the shoot is over and I have to go through the photographs to find what I like. As you can see in the big image up top, when photographing I’ll work an angle for quite a while as I try to make the best photograph I can from a promising situation. Some work and some don’t. But it’s only in the editing phase that you find out for sure.

In the editing workflow, I’ll take the photos from any given angle and look at them all, eliminating the weaker ones until I am down to the strongest (the selects). After pulling selects the entire take I’ll look at them all and whittle that set down to a final set, which hopefully are the best of the shoot.

In my own workflow, I like to edit quickly, acting on instinct. Too much pondering gets me stuck and takes me away from the way that photographs are absorbed by readers (instantly, for the most part). But to be honest, sometimes I can’t decide between two photographs. That’s where a second opinion becomes very valuable. My colleagues and photo editors have always been a big help in that regard.

Westcliffe FLDS – The Details

Posted on August 8, 2008 by Trent Nelson

“I’ll introduce you to some mothers who have absolutely no objection to you taking their picture.”

You have never seen an FLDS scarecrow, have you?

Now You Know

Posted on August 6, 2008 by Trent Nelson

I was in Westcliffe, Colorado, where we had been invited to spend a day in a home the FLDS are using to care for a handful of revered grandmothers.

But the story was much bigger than that. The residents of Westcliffe, upon discovering who their new neighbors were, began to investigate the FLDS. And as anyone who has caught that bug and wanted to learn about polygamy and the FLDS knows, the first things you find to educate yourself with are often from the loudest voices. You end up reading a lot of outrageous stories that are very difficult to verify.

There are a lot of posts I could (and hopefully will) write about the Westcliffe story. We met a lot of fascinating people on all sides of the issue.

Probably the most bizarre thing I could tell you about photographing this story is that for the first time in history the FLDS were fine with pictures and the outsiders were not.

We were given nearly complete access by the FLDS. I had great access to the people, the house and the property. On the other hand, a majority of the “outsiders” we interviewed for the story refused to be photographed. What an alternate reality that is. (Thanks to those who did allow pictures and to the one who had good reason for remaining anonymous.)

To the concerned people of Westcliffe who took the time to tell us their concerns, as well as the FLDS who invited us into their home (you were obviously all exhausted by the time we left late that night), thank you.

More soon…Must catch breath…

Grand Jury – YFZ – The Rest

Posted on July 22, 2008 by Trent Nelson

Wow. A long, draining day. We sat outside the courthouse waiting for something to happen for about ten hours. It was hot and miserable, even with shade and the blowing wind. Now that my molten Twix bar has been reconstituted in the hotel room fridge, I’ll attempt to recount the day. Mostly in photos. Stephanie says that I must have gotten good stuff, even if I’m too drained to consider the possibility.

Grand Jury – YFZ – First Pic

Posted on July 22, 2008 by Trent Nelson

Eldorado, TX – FLDS member Janet Jeffs arrives with an unidentified attorney at the Schleicher County Courthouse, where a grand jury reconvened to consider charges stemming from the raid on the YFZ Ranch.

I just realized something funny. A real switch in how this story is covered. We’ve gotten to the point where we know the names of the FLDS members but not the names of the attorneys. That’s a reversal from days past, when I knew who the attorneys were but not the people.

Here is the news from this morning. We pulled up to see the yellow tape around the courthouse pushed further back from before, and the sprinklers spraying the grassy area we wanted to set up. But it wasn’t all that bad, they have moved the grand jury into an adjacent building, apparently because it has air conditioning and we found a better angle for the new situation.

No air conditioning out on the grass, however. We’re sitting at a picnic table in the shade.

At one point Willie Jessop came over to talk to Brooke and all of the other reporters and photographers ran over and started asking him questions like, “Where is Merril Jessop?” It’s the kind of question that journalists ask, but it’s not like Willie would answer. He wasn’t out to make a statement, but promised one later. He just cocked his head and kind of laughed the probing questions off. It seems obvious that he’s been subpoenaed to testify. Why else would he be allowed beyond the yellow tape?

One other thing from this morning. While we were all distracted with Willie, the Texas Attorney General pulled up and entered the building. By the time we saw him and sprinted over to get the pic, it was too late. Only the guy from the Eldorado Success got the photo.

Tomorrow's Grand Jury – YFZ

Posted on July 21, 2008 by Trent Nelson

So tomorrow is part two of the grand jury show at the Schleicher County Courthouse. We are all wondering what will happen, though the general consensus is that we will see some arrests made in cases involving underage marriages performed at the FLDS Church’s YFZ Ranch.

I’ll try to blog from my folding camping chair on the courthouse grounds tomorrow, but it will depend on how busy things get.

I know that people on both sides of the issue must be nervous about tomorrow’s outcome. As a neutral observer, the only thing I need to hope for is shade and a cool breeze. Whatever happens, I plan to be there.

Blackbuck and Limestone – YFZ

Posted on July 7, 2008 by Trent Nelson

A Texas blackbuck skipping through a sewage area under construction on the YFZ ranch.

There was a reporter early on in the YFZ raid story who would ask the best questions. And I mean “best” as in most entertaining. I think CPS caught on to him after the first two press conferences so he took to asking other reporters to ask his creative questions.

One thing he asked was whether or not any tunnels had been discovered on the YFZ ranch. Because, he said, “These people are known to dig tunnels.” He also asked whether cadaver dogs had searched the property.

Residents of the YFZ ranch laughed about these questions when we asked them about it because the YFZ sits on solid limestone, as you can see in the photo above. The large gardens at the YFZ sit three or four feet above ground level, where the plants are nestled in top soil was brought in and lies atop the native limestone.

So whatever crimes may have happened at the YFZ, I’m betting they took place above ground.

I haven’t seen that reporter in Texas since very early on, which is very mysterious. I wonder where he is. Somebody had better send some search dogs into the tunnels to find him. I’m getting worried.

The Rainbow – YFZ

Posted on July 6, 2008 by Trent Nelson

$A rack of pastel colored dresses in the sewing shop at the FLDS church\\'s YFZ ranch outside of Eldorado, Texas.$

When I lined up this frame of pastel dresses on a rack in the sewing shop at the YFZ ranch, one of our guides said, “Taking pictures of the rainbow?”

Turnabout – YFZ

Posted on June 27, 2008 by Trent Nelson

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:

YFZ Grand Jury

Posted on June 25, 2008 by Trent Nelson

(The Photo Gallery may or may not be working. I’m fixing it now. If you can’t wait, go here: http://tribblogs.com/fly/2008/06/yfz-grand-jury/.)

Spent the day in front of the Schleicher County Courthouse in Eldorado, Texas, where a grand jury was considering evidence from the raid on the YFZ ranch for possible criminal charges against members of the FLDS church. Several FLDS women were called in to testify. And before I go on, I must give some credit to the eye of Stephanie Sinclair. She noticed the silhouettes first and I followed her inspiration for a beautiful, symbolic image of the day’s events.
In the gallery below, photos from throughout the day, all shot with the 600mm lens. We were kept back at least 150 feet from the building, which was surrounded by yellow police tape. Worse than that tape was me leaving my monopod in the hotel room and having to handhold the 600 all day long.

Late in the afternoon, Teresa Jeffs got antsy and climbed up a tree on the courthouse grounds. The photo below (with handy red circle) shows you how high she went:

Children Return To YFZ

Posted on June 11, 2008 by Trent Nelson

We wait at the locked gate of the YFZ ranch. It’s over 100 degrees out, coupled with that West Texas wind that never seems to stop blowing. Two hours later we are admitted. We drive down the long road to what I’ve heard called the guard tower (by outsiders) or the gatehouse (by insiders). Today it has a new sign: “Information Center.”

We are told about a reunion that’s about to take place. A van full of boys is here and they are going to see Grandma Gloria for the first time since they were removed in the raid two months ago. We had met and photographed Grandma Gloria a week before.

We meet the van at an industrial part of the ranch. I grab my cameras and walk up by the driver’s side with an FLDS man who is escorting us. Brooke continues on around the van to see the reunion but I’m stopped. Our escort says no pictures. I offer to photograph the boys from behind so their identities are protected.

No dice. No pictures.

I look through the tinted glass window and see Grandma Gloria hugging the boys on the other side of the van. Now I’m missing this great moment. I’m at my boiling point now. We wait two hours to get onto the ranch only to get shut out. Frustrated, I turn around and walk back to the car, putting my cameras on the back seat. I get in, lean the seat back and let out a huge exhale of tension. Here I am looking at a touching, authentic scene that humanizes their community and illustrates the reunion of families and they don’t want it shown.

After the reunion is over, we talk with our escort about the no pictures thing. He gives his reasons, which amount to the FLDS not wanting to antagonize CPS. We explain that photographs of these boys would violate nothing in the judge’s order sending the children home. We even give him a copy of the order, which he says he hasn’t seen. He drives off and we sit in the car staring at a junk pile for a half-hour.

I’m very frustrated at this point, after the two-hour wait and then no pictures. The moment was right there, five feet away, and my cameras had to stay at my side. Am I naive to hope for more openness from this secretive community? I’m fully aware that their history has given them countless reasons to avoid publicity, but moments like the reunion I just witnessed seem completely harmless.

Looking at the large pile of scrap metal junk, I start to wonder what is the point of being here? What are we going to get? Is it worth sticking around? But of course getting on the ranch is no small thing, so we wait.

Our escort comes back and says that a family is going to go out to the gate and do a press conference for the assembled media. We can either leave the ranch and do that or we can wait for them to finish and they’ll come back in and do something separate with us. After spending the past two weeks doing press conferences, we opt for talking to them alone.

Twenty minutes later we meet Edson Jessop and his wife Zavenda with their three sons and one daughter. A photographer and reporter from the Deseret News are now present. We sit in the shade in front of the schoolhouse. Very quickly, the oldest boy covers his face with his hands. And pretty soon the younger boys notice and follow their brother’s lead. The oldest says something like, “Stop taking pictures. We don’t like you taking our pictures.”

“If I was you,” I said, “I’d feel the same way.”

A statement of empathy like that usually works to calm children down, but this boy had a great response.

“Then why are you doing it?” he asked.

I was surprised and it took me a moment to figure out my response. I said, “I guess I’m doing it because I know who I am, and if you knew me you’d know I was a nice guy. Then you wouldn’t be half as mad as you are about me taking pictures.”

The boys kept their heads down. And you know, it’s not like I wanted them to look up or anything. How they were reacting showed how much they had been through after being taken from their parents two months ago (and the all-night drive home from a faraway shelter).

At one point one of the boys said he wanted to throw rocks at our cameras. Their parents apologized for their behavior but we all insisted that it was completely normal considering the circumstances. After I had a few photos of the boys, I started to focus on the daughter, who had no problems with the camera being there. She just wanted her parents’ attention. An interview situation like this is usually poor for candid moments, but they can still be found.

After a while the three boys walked off and climbed back into the family’s van. I thought I should go talk to them. The Deseret News photographer beat me to it. I don’t know what he said, but when he was done I left my cameras on the grass and went over to the van. The boys wouldn’t look at me as I thanked them for coming out and talking to us. They asked why I wanted photos of them. I said something like, “Well, because we want to show people that you are home with your family now. There are people who want to take you away from your family and…”

“People DID take us away from our family,” the oldest boy interrupted.

Again I thought, this boy is quick and smart. I said, “You know boys, you are going to remember today, the day you came home, for the rest of your lives. I am going to send each of you a photograph from today and I hope you keep it to help you remember the day you came home to your parents.”

They still weren’t looking at me, but I continued. “Now you don’t have to do this, but if you want to come out and take one picture where you are all smiling with your family, you can. I’m going to go back over there and let you decide. But you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. Thanks for letting me take your picture.”

I walked back to Edson and Zavenda, who were talking to the writers and playing with their young daughter. We sat for a while and then it was time to go.

As we got up to leave, the three boys walked over from the van and stood by their parents. They wanted the family picture.

Father and Son

Posted on June 4, 2008 by Trent Nelson

Yesterday I spent time with Edson Jessop and his newly reunited family. I’ll write more when I get a minute. Just wanted to have something less “emo” at the top of the page here.

Shut Out

Posted on June 3, 2008 by Trent Nelson

When the children of the YFZ ranch began to be reunited with their parents Monday, we got nothing. All of our contacts, all the trust we had built up in the community with our objective and fair reporting, all of it was worthless on Monday. After eight weeks on the ground, we got shut out at this important moment.

I knew I was in trouble all day when I didn’t see the photographer from our competition at any of the places we were. He must be somewhere better, I figured. I texted him early in the day, asking how badly he was burning me. He texted back, asking if I had any sunscreen. I was dreading the journalistic beat-down that I knew was coming.

Sure enough, this morning I find an amazing set of photographs documenting an FLDS family reunited with their children and moving into their new home. Emotional moments, hugs, kids playing joyfully. Just a bang-up job. And it’s not my work. What a letdown. After two months in Texas, this is definitely my lowest moment. To be shut out at such a critical moment? I could have been home with my family for the past two weeks.

We’ve been covering the raid since day one. It’s a long time to live out of hotels and rental cars, away from our families. I’ve missed several important events at home and I don’t know how I make it up to my wife for all the load she has carried while I’ve been here in Texas.

But we knew we were covering history down here. And that was important. We took our jobs seriously and put together some of the best coverage on the raid, hands down. Brooke’s reporting was consistently ahead of everyone, even yesterday when we were the only ones to catch Judge Walther at the courthouse seating a grand jury to consider criminal charges in Eldorado.

That’s why being shut out for the reunions stings so much. We thought we had built up some good relationships, while at the same time maintaining our objectivity. Others didn’t even try to be fair. Some reporters bought the state’s case hook, line, and sinker and never even tried to be fair. Others went the other way; I saw one reporter sit with the FLDS members in court, as if she was one of them. Neither approach felt right to me. We wanted the truth no matter where it took us.

We kept hearing that the reunions needed to be private moments and the children were just too emotionally damaged to have us present. But the family in the photos that I saw this morning was quite comfortable with having a reporter and photographer present. In fact, the article says that one of the boys, a six-year-old, insisted on helping the photographer and even took pictures with his camera. I have been that photographer dozens of times over the years as I have photographed families in sensitive situations. A good photojournalist blends right in and puts people at ease.

But if we don’t have any access, history is lost.

The YFZ Awards

Posted on June 2, 2008 by Trent Nelson

Here and now I’m presenting the awards for the past two weeks spent covering the polygamy raid in Texas. I fully recognize that all of you involved (media, CPS, FLDS) were deserving of some award or another, and I had a hard time narrowing it down to these finalists. So if you didn’t win (or if you did), remember that it’s all in fun. As they say at the YFZ schoolhouse: We’re all about smiles around here!

Most unobtrusive photographer in a pink shirt with a wet towel on his head:

Sweatiest hairy neck on a hot day:

Best judge-shielding by a baliff:

Best photo of man holding a box:

Best photo of Willie Jessop where he appears to be walking into a pole with a small human head growing out of his shoulder:

Best onion:

Worst case of microphone assault:

Most ironic use of yellow tape during a CPS press conference:

Worst place to sit on a 106 degree day: Between two hot grills at the Japanese Steak House.

Worst food product ever bought at a gas station: Fried green beans in Eldorado.

Photographer hustle award:

Best souvenir: A business card I collected. But I can’t tell you whose it is.

Favorite quote uttered at an Italian restaurant: “If the families won at the Supreme Court, why are they losing?”

Worst shady place to park on a stakeout the Schleicher County Courthouse when you need to be able to clearly see the front door:

Cutest couple: Aw, come on. Too easy of a joke.

Funniest (and only) ten minutes of television I watched in two weeks: The Nancy Grace Show.

Best day off: No award given.

YFZ Purgatory

Posted on May 28, 2008 by Trent Nelson

Anything to photograph today on the YFZ story? No. No. No. No. No. Been that way for nearly an entire week.

The past few days…no, start over. The past SEVERAL days have been disappointing. Photos have been very hard to come by, mainly due to a lack of access on all sides of the story. As everyone sits and waits for the Supreme Court of Texas to come to a decision that will define this entire event, nothing happens.

Not that it hasn’t been fascinating at times. I’ve met some very interesting people that I never thought would talk and found them to be quite amazing.

On the down side, lawyers have refused me access to photograph their clients, the state isn’t saying much of anything, and I spend hours sitting around waiting for something to happen. I could go on, but I don’t want to make anyone mad by complaining. I’m just going crazy waiting for something to shoot. This is history and I want to be on the front lines.

If you don’t believe me, here is my Wednesday in San Angelo:

Woke up. Showered. Rented Rambo. Bought candy (Mike-N-Ikes, Sugar Babies).

Drove to courthouse, parked in shade. All other media are gone. Watched Rambo in my car, as I looked for anything to happen. Watched all deleted scenes and special featurettes on Rambo DVD.

Blogged.

Returned to hotel. Played the 1984 videogame, Super Basketball on my laptop (via the Mame arcade emulator). I’m getting better. I finally beat the Japanese team. (That’s me above, celebrating with my shirt off after hitting the game-winning free-throw?).

Went to lunch with two Tribune reporters, one of whom is having a hard time eating anymore after so much restaurant food. We encourage her to eat. If the ruling comes down it’s going to be hard to find time for meals.

Returned to hotel. Watched entire Rambo film again, this time with Sylvester Stallone’s audio commentary.

Went out and started a new photo essay: The Dumpsters of San Angelo. (I told you I was going nuts.)

While I was working on my photo essay, I did some dumpster diving in the bin behind a bookstore. There were dozens of copies of magazines with their covers ripped off. I pulled out several cycling magazines before store employees ran me off.

Return to hotel. Read cycling magazines while we talk about going to a movie. There are five choices; I’ve seen three and I don’t want to see the other two.

Two of us go to eat and have the best steak of the trip. Why didn’t we find this restaurant two months ago, when we started this story?!

Going to bed now. Maybe tomorrow will bring something for me to do. Otherwise, there are hundreds more dumpsters in this town.

The Warren Jeffs Photos – Time Bomb

Posted on May 28, 2008 by Trent Nelson

What’s today, Wednesday? So it’s been five days since we first published the photos of Warren Jeffs and the 12-year-old girl. The photos, if legitimate, seem destined to become the poster image for the FLDS/child bride debate. But for whatever reason, the photos didn’t break into the spotlight immediately. Only today do they seem to be coming into the national conversation. Almost a week after their release are they popping up all over the Internet as news outlets and blogs “discover them.”

The delayed reaction is surprising from here in San Angelo. We hadn’t seen anything like these photographs released before and expected their release to go off like a bomb last week. We expected shows like Nancy Grace and CNN to pipe them into your homes nonstop all weekend long. And that was probably the hope of Child Protective Services (CPS).

But it didn’t happen. All was quiet over Memorial Day Weekend, and only a few outlets picked up on the photographs. But then The Smoking Gun put them online yesterday and everything kicked off from there. They are now spreading like a virus coming out of its incubation period.

One thing to note for all of you ethicists is that many news outlets are running the photographs with no attempt to conceal the identity of the girl, and some are even printing her name (which was handwritten on the sheet of photos). The Tribune decided to blur the girl’s face to protect her identity in case she is a victim of sexual abuse. Our policy is to not identify victims of sexual abuse.

I was in the hearing last Friday when the photos were first introduced into evidence. As the lawyers handed the three sheets of photographs showing Warren Jeffs holding and kissing two different young girls, I was craning my neck for a better view. The photos were released at the next break in testimony.

We were the only media outlet in the hearing that had two staffers. So while the reporters were stuck in the courtroom listening to testimony, I was able to wait in the clerk’s office for the first copies of the photos.

Once they were in my hand I calmly walked out and down the steps of the courthouse, trying to act normal as I went to my car to send the photos with my laptop. I didn’t want the masses of broadcast (TV) media outside to realize we had a scoop.

My call to the Tribune with news of the photographs came during the afternoon budget meeting and sent a buzz through the assembled editors. Again, I’m talking last Friday. That’s when we had it. Smoking gun or not, we were first.

Trent Nelson | Photojournalist

Tag Archives: Polygamy