There is a story behind this photograph.  A year and a half ago I contacted Rosie to do her portrait for Wikipedia.  We had a mutual friend, civil rights icon Evan Wolfson, who wrote to her on my behalf.  She seemed positive about doing the portrait, so Evan gave me her e-mail address.  When I wrote to her, she responded as if she was confused about the request.  I explained to her my project of trying to take portraits for Wikipedia.  Then she had the then-head of her foundation and civil rights icon Elizabeth Birch write to me asking what I wanted.  Birch and I exchange many e-mails where I explained my entire Wikipedia project (I really like Elizabeth – she was very into the idea).  But nothing happened.  I sent Rosie another e-mail a few weeks later, and she had her publicist contact me.  We exchanged several e-mails.  I explained to her my Wikipedia project also.  About 4 months, 15 e-mails and four people (including Rosie) later, I was in the end told by the publicist “No.”  Not a big deal.

Then this April of 2008 I was put on the A-List of photographers for the Tribeca Film Festival, which meant I had a private room (along with about six other photographers) to shoot the celebrities.  The same A-List photographers show up year after year, and because that room is coveted, many other photographers–paparazzi, minor press photogs, et al.– try to sneak in.  I was a new addition to the A List room.  When Rosie showed up for Madonna’s movie I Am Because We Are, she started saying hello to the regular A-Listers, but to me she pointed and said, “You, I don’t know you.  You snuck in here.”

If she only knew…I didn’t say anything.  But I got my Wikipedia portrait!  I like Rosie and I was glad I could provide a better shot than the one that previously existed on Wikipedia.

One of the problems with shooting Rosie (the other A-Listers all spoke of it) is that she talks too much when she is photographed.  This is one of the reasons there are so many unflattering shots of her.  People like Mariah Carey, Madonna and Drew Barrymore barely talk, but stand there smiling and moving for different shots, almost mannequin-esque.  This is the way to do it – pose.  Rosie is very social and wants to chat throughout, which creates a lot of face contortions.  Even in this photo, she’s talking to me.  But I was proud that it was a nice, clear one.  I don’t retouch my photos – she is looking good.

Last week I attended an awards ceremony for filmmaker and activist Donny Moss.  He received the Nanci Alexander Activist Award for his ground-breaking documentary, Blinders.  It was a star-studded event with Alec Baldwin, Kristen Johnston, Ingrid Newkirk and Dan Mathews.

Ingrid, PETA’s president and co-founder , does not just care about four-legged animals.  When I interviewed her for Wikinews/Wikipedia we had this exchange:

Ingrid Newkirk: No, I want to more closely associate humans with the other animals, because if we took Biology 101 we know we are all animals. It’s just that we decide we’re gods, they’re trash. That’s just invalid, wrong from every point of perspective: scientific, moral and everything else. I want people to relate to the other animals.

The film must be seen to be believed.  It documents the carriage horse trade in New York City that has been romanticized and glorified in films and television.  In reality, it is a brutal and unsafe anachronism that still afflicts our streets.

The horses are not properly cared for.  To cut down on stench-producing urine, their water supply is kept to a minimum.  These horses never see a spot of greenery.  Never.  No, they don’t run around Central Park and they do not go off to a field somewhere.  They go from the burden of carting up to five tourists at a time all day to brick tenement buildings transformed into stables where they are housed in 10×4 cells (they can’t lie down).  Many have lung problems because their snouts suck up the pollution and carbon monoxide on the street.  They are literally nose to tailpipe.  The film shows the horses competing with speeding taxi cabs and trucks for space on Manhattan’s congested roads.  For the laws that exist, there is only one enforcement officer assigned, and he is only on duty from 9 to 5.

Then there are the deaths of the horses.  Some get spooked and dart out into traffic, smash into cars or trees, or break their legs and have to be shot.

And when they are too old or infirm to continue, they are brought to the slaughter house and shot.  Very few go to “greener pastures.”

Please, if you are a tourist, do not patronize this industry when you come to the city.  There are so many other things to do – have a guilt-free trip to what I think is the greatest city in the United States (excepting for the cruel horse carriage trade).  Thank you, Donny Moss, for opening my eyes where before I had never given it much thought.