Laura Sketchbook Post #5
I thought I'd share my experience here because it reminded me of the Urban Explorers Infiltration zine Heba mentioned a while ago. They were the people who break in to off-limits places for one reason or another, and document it.
Well, for my photography class, our current assignment is called "Sense of Place" where we document photographically a place that we find interesting. I chose the Guthrie theater since it is totally amazing. Anyway, I pretty much exhausted all the possible pictures of public lobby areas (the only places where you are able to take pictures) but I was looking for more. I enlisted the help of one of my roommates who is a BFA theater major. They have class at the Guthrie sometimes and therefore have special access to special areas. So Danice and I covertly snuck around (my camera concealed under my coat) to snap a few pictures of the trap doors and back hallways. When we made it in to the McGuire Proscenium it was soooo hard to secretly take pictures since someone was always on stage plus people were doing sound checks and stuff. I had no opportunity to actually set up my tripod and use a correct shutter speed for these dark areas. So we left, and I had bad pictures.
So then I thought, how would I be able to be allowed into these theaters to take pictures without jumping through hoops for permission and whatnot? I wrote myself a permission letter "signed" by the director of education and community programs, Sheila Livingston. I even made my own Guthrie stationary. Because really, I'm sure she would have said it was okay anyway, I just...uh…saved her the hassle.
So yesterday is when this all went down. I approach one of the usher/information people with my request flashing the letter pf approval. He's like "Uh, I need to get my manager." Hmmm, okay. I'm already pretty nervous at this point, visions of arrest are running through my head. Mr. Manager comes over and takes my letter and request as being legitimate. Sa-weet. But then he says "I have to double check with MY manager." We're talking, the big guy, in charge of all the employees, blah blah. Great. Should I bail? No. Mr. Super Manager comes by, reads my letter and starts making small talk about Sheila, the lady who I never actually met. So I bs my way through a short conversation. "Oh yeah, ha, Sheila. Heh." After many tense moments, I am ALLOWED in to the Wurtle Thrust Stage to take beautiful photographs at my will. I can't believe it worked. Now keep in mind, I don't really think I did anything wrong. It would be against the law for me to sell the pictures or whatever, but it was for educational purposes. Or maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better. Anyway, I got some neat shots (and nearly a heart attack) out of the whole ordeal.
The things we do for art.