C.S. Muncy is a New York City-based freelance photojournalist with a client list that includes The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsday, The New York Daily News and The Village Voice. His work has also appeared in Time Magazine, The Smithsonian Magazine and Wired Japan. In 2012, he was selected for the 25th Eddie Adams Workshop, received the NPPA Short Course Travel Grant and won first prize in the National Geographic/Nikon “Full Story” photo contest. A graduate of the Defense Information School, he enlisted in the United States Air Force in 2002 and is currently a combat correspondent with the 106th Rescue Wing.
A few days before heading off to Cleveland I wrote an article for the Photo Brigade, briefly describing some of the gear that I’d be bringing. Everyone was expecting the worse—and I mean everyone. After the fights, protests and stabbings, we all seemed ready for blood. The police were riding around downtown looking like operators, all handle-staches, multicam and assault rifles. The protesters (who were significantly smaller in number, but more on that later) had numerous helmets, gas masks and goggles confiscated on the scene. The press…well, some of us were just as bad.
Several walked the streets wearing old body armor and helmets; one of the local news team was completely kitted out with Level IIIA vests. In retrospect, it all looked rather silly.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m just as guilty. As I mentioned in the article, I packed a helmet, IFAK and vest, though they never left the car. Looking back over the last week, what advice would I give for future convention photographers?
Mostly to pack light, take only what you need and wear comfortable shoes. I spent a lot of time chasing down crowds of convention attendees, police and protesters; having heavy gear and crappy shoes just left me in a ton of pain. Leave everything you don’t need in the hotel, and keep a method for transmitting handy.
The event itself was kind of a wash when it comes to calamity. There simply weren’t the massive numbers of protesters needed to reach that critical mass. The largest march was actually the day before the convention, and was decidedly apolitical. The others never amounted to more than a couple of hundred people. The Cleveland police, while attired for a riot, took a surprisingly light touch and refrained from any obvious heavy handedness.