This was the situation on the Garden City corniche yesterday afternoon. It was very windy and therefore difficult to take photos, with smoke, sand and tear gas blowing everywhere. My safety goggles came in very handy.
On my way out, I got harassed by some asshole wearing a balaclava, swinging around a molotov cocktail that he had prepared. He demanded I deleted pictures I took of him, which I did, after he became very threatening and started yanking my camera strap and pushing me. I'm sure there's at least 50 other photographers that have pictures of him, so his action was a little futile. Also, since he was wearing a ski mask, nobody would have recognised him anyway.
But yeah, I was one of the last photographers to leave the scene, so I got singled out and picked on. Apparently that's how it works. I slapped him in the face and managed to get out when he got a little too agitated and tried to rip off my gas mask, though.
The chaos increased after dark, when protesters managed to steal to police vans and set them on fire, one of them in the middle of Tahrir square. I missed out on all that, because I was stuck at home filing photos. You win some, you lose some.
They were shooting rubber bullets and birdshot at that point, though, so even if I had had time, I probably wouldn't have gone in anyway. I've had enough injuries for this week.
More mayhem this way.
On my way out, I got harassed by some asshole wearing a balaclava, swinging around a molotov cocktail that he had prepared. He demanded I deleted pictures I took of him, which I did, after he became very threatening and started yanking my camera strap and pushing me. I'm sure there's at least 50 other photographers that have pictures of him, so his action was a little futile. Also, since he was wearing a ski mask, nobody would have recognised him anyway.
But yeah, I was one of the last photographers to leave the scene, so I got singled out and picked on. Apparently that's how it works. I slapped him in the face and managed to get out when he got a little too agitated and tried to rip off my gas mask, though.
The chaos increased after dark, when protesters managed to steal to police vans and set them on fire, one of them in the middle of Tahrir square. I missed out on all that, because I was stuck at home filing photos. You win some, you lose some.
They were shooting rubber bullets and birdshot at that point, though, so even if I had had time, I probably wouldn't have gone in anyway. I've had enough injuries for this week.
More mayhem this way.
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