Fifteen Seconds

 

Rorschach Hoop

Boston's baseball season ended with the Red Sox in the basement looking up at the other teams in its division. And our New England Patriots now seem to be cruising to their poorest finish since Before TBE, the Tom Brady Era. So it's a natural for all eyes to turn to the Celtics as they compete to hoist an unprecedented eighteenth championship banner to the rafters of the Boston Gahden. In that spirit this new Photo-blog has a basketball theme. The post also contains a link to 'Shooting Hoops', a favorite Photo-essay of mine which is replete with hoop photos and stories.

If you recall, my previous Photo-blog featured a Spoiler Alert at the outset cautioning it was to be more 'blog' than 'Photo'. But I promised to resume the old format for the next posting, this one. I'm staying true to that promise .... almost. The Photo-blog will highlight one particular image and narrative which raised a stir when it was first viewed, but is apropos for today.

the stir-raising image

Here's what transpired .....

Before my photography was primarily presented online, I regularly created 'brick 'n mortar' photo exhibits with selected photos complemented by accompanying narratives. One such exhibit, Shooting Hoops, was accepted for a month long  showing in Newton Free Library's main gallery. This was very exciting as so many of my friends, family, students, colleagues, and basketball buddies would attend the Opening Reception. Unfortunately, no sooner than the exhibit was mounted, it appeared it would have to be taken down.

Why?

After I painstakingly hung all twenty-five framed photos, the director of the library's display spaces called to say a patron had complained about one of the pieces, one which featured a hoop adjacent to a massive stone wall.  The setting was in an Israeli kibbutz in northern Israel, a stone's throw from the Lebanese border.  Somehow the complainer was offended, most likely by the accompanying text, titled Fifteen Seconds.

Here's what I wrote...

Fifteen Seconds

'This hoop was photographed in Israel. I composed the image placing the unassuming basketball hoop in a corner to be overshadowed by a looming concrete and stone structure.  Note the speakers within the tree branches.  They do not play music, announce score updates, or provide Public Service Announcements.  They are sirens which sound the alarm for everyone on the court, or anywhere nearby, to sprint to shelter entrance #26 before an incoming missile lands.  Entrance #26 leads to the stone reinforced bunker providing a temporary, secure haven...if you get there in time.

Fifteen seconds....For Israelis living within range of Hamas or Hezbollah rocket fire, that's how long they have from the moment, any moment - 24/7 - the siren blasts a Red Alert signaling missiles have been launched.  Fifteen seconds to reach a shelter before impact.  They hope they can make it.  They hope everyone in their family can as well. Fifteen seconds - 24/7.

Imagine trying to live your life that way. I can't.'

Now back to Newton where my freedom of artistic expression was being challenged.

Anyone for a game of H.O.R.S.E?

I replied to the library director that my exhibit is a body of work for which her edit was not an option.  If the director was adamant about removal of Fifteen Seconds, I would... but I would also remove all the other pieces leaving the gallery walls bare for the next four weeks of the scheduled showing.  I'd also call the city weekly, Newton Tab, and recount what had transpired.  After a few testy back and forth  exchanges, and the director's consultation with the Library's legal advisors, the exhibit remained hung intact.  It even had an additional feature, this statement posted nearby: 'views expressed by the photographer are not those of the Library'.

In the end, this sorry episode was a win for freedom of expression and a loss for censorship.

Epilogue

The Opening Reception turned out to be a grand affair.  Aside from my guests there were many library patrons who stopped by.  BTW, none complained about any of the images; in fact I made a few sales! If the crowd didn't have to vacate the library by its 9 PM closing, the festivities would have gone into OT.

Balloon Art and photo by Naomi Greenfield

One more thing...my photograph Fifteen Seconds was taken at the kibbutz where some of my relatives live.  For years, the entire area had been enduring rocket attacks.  Two months ago, after Hamas' October 7th massacre, the entire kibbutz was evacuated.  Today the family remains displaced somewhere closer to central Israel and two of their grandkids currently serve in the IDF, deployed to undisclosed bases.  

For all of them the war is in OT without an end in sight.

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