When Worlds Collide

I was hanging out in a library today flipping through some old photography books. On the cover of one of the books was that iconic image of screaming Vietnamese children running away from their village that had just been Napalmed. The photographer who took that picture is named Nick Ut. He was the only one who got that shot simply because all the other photographers there had shot their entire roll on the attack itself. Nick was the only one with film in his camera and pretty much changed the face of war photography. A few years back I was asked to be part of the media circle-jerk that covered the Michael Jackson trial out in Santa Maria California. While there I was lucky enough to become friends with Nick. He was an AP photographer and I was working for the organization that ran the media pool circus so we happened to cross paths frequently. He explained how he got that shot and how it had made him a name in the industry. To me he was a god amongst weasels that scurried around the courthouse parking lot on a daily basis. One night we were out chowing down at an all you can eat pizza joint. The decor was based on the Klondike gold rush and had polar bears and moose heads hanging all over the walls. Nick came in with a new digital camera. This thing was sick; something like 22 mega-pixels and worth 20 grand. So he sat down and said to me, "Glen, stand on table next to moose." I thought the request kind of odd but I figured this was an idol of mine and probably would have downed some tainted Kool-Aid if he had asked. So I climbed up on the table and stood next to a moose head. Everyone in the place turned to watch. Nick then took his hands and made the international symbol for moose antlers by curling his upward palms on the top of his head. This I took to mean that he wanted me to do the same....and I did. He raised the camera and took the shot. later that night as I lay in bed I thought about what had taken place. Part of me was flattered that Nick would use me as a subject in one of his pictures. The other part of me wondered how the fuck this incredibly gifted Pulitzer Prize winning cat could find himself in a shit hole, greasy spoon taking pictures of an idiot standing on a table pretending he was a moose. Thus is the complexity of life.