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International Travel:
Antecdotes from Robert Glenn Ketchum, Galen Rowell and William Neill
© 1996-1997 Kevin C. O'Neil, Eastern Light Nature Photography, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Robert Glenn Ketchum feels that one of the most important travel rules is to be comfortable with
your equipment, and when you travel, it shouldn't get in your way or disturb your ability to get the shot.
For international travel, know what you can take in and out of a country, what you can and cannot shoot
and what you can bring back into the States.
Robert explained that while working on a recent book, he had visit Russia to obtain some of the
images he needed for the project. When leaving he was stopped in the airport just before boarding the
plane. The officials physically confronted him about the amount of film and equipment he had and what
he had been shooting. Apparently at the time there were very strict limits on the amount of film and
equipment foreign photographers were allowed to bring with them into the country and Bob had clearly
exceeded the limit of several camera bodies and 50 rolls of film. The consequences of his "illegal"
actions was the complete confiscation of all of his equipment (replaceable) and exposed film
(irreplaceable)!
Rather than accepting the complete loss of a significant amount of work and images he could not
replace, Bob proceeded to argue and negotiate with the guards for the release of his equipment and film.
Although his leverage was small, he was able to convince the officials to release them to him but only
after several very tense hours. Bob had researched the requirements for bringing equipment and film into
the country, but concedes that somehow he had not found out about the requirement to register with the
authorities upon his arrival in Russia. Yet, had he registered, he would not have been able to shoot all
the film he needed to complete the project.
On another return trip from Hong Kong, Bob was threatened again with the confiscation of his
equipment by U.S. Customs. The Customs officials were questioning the amount of equipment being
brought back into the country. This time Bob was prepared. He had proof of ownership of all of the
equipment, including serial numbers, and the Custom officials finally conceded and allowed him to return
to the States with his equipment.
In both situations, Robert was faced with difficult situations where he had to act assertively to
save his work and equipment. It would have been much easier to allow the confiscation and not place
himself in possible jeopardy.
Few people, let alone photographer's, have travelled as extensively as Galen Rowell. He has
travelled to almost every location in the North America, to Tibet and Nepal, to almost every location in between, including Antarctica. For all his travels, he lives by one very simple and all important rule: "carry everything you
need to complete the assignment onto the airplane-- at least one camera, important lenses, and all film.
Check only what you can do without."
On one of Galen's last trips to Antarctica (his images from the trip are featured in the March 1993 edition
of Life magazine in the article A Most Unearthy Place), and on one of his final legs of the journey, he had to fly in on an U.S. Navy craft. He was told he could carry onto the plane only a small bag. Although he followed his rule and took his most important equipment, the small bag wasn't large enough for his 200 rolls of film. You already know the rest of the story. The duffle containing his 200 rolls of
film was off-loaded by mistake and Galen arrived in Antarctica, on an important assignment for Life
magazine, without his film. Antarctica does not have a corner photo store or mail order film supplies.
Galen spent his first two weeks "phoning, E-mailing and worrying" in a futile attempt to find the duffle
bag with his film. He was able through shear tenacity to borrow some film and to finally make
arrangements to replace the film he had "lost." When he returned to New Zealand several months later
he was found his duffle bag and film patiently waiting for him.
Click on the green button to visit Galen & Barbara Rowell/Mountain Light Photography's web page and see some of their work.
William Neill has done extensive travelling with his camera, and has on numerous occasions led
photographic tours to international locations. Just as Robert Glenn Ketchum, he believes it is extremely
important to know and comply with all of a country's regulations before entering the country. But, even
when you comply, there's no guarantee the rules won't change.
On one trip, Bill and his group was crossing the border into Nepal when his group was stopped
for what he thought was a standard crossing. All of the members of the group had fully complied with
the country's regulations, but they found themselves being photographed and detained. Then, one of the
group was separated out and interrogated for 45 minutes. When he returned, his passport, all of his film,
his notebooks and some personal effects were confiscated. Each of the group had to go through the same
process with the same results. Bill was the last to go through this and although they took his passport and other personal effects, and the one roll of film in his camera, they didn't get most of his film that was in his duffle bag.
After being forced to wait several more hours, the border guards began to search the baggage of
each of the group members. It was clear from the search being conducted that when they searched Bill's
duffle bag, his film would be confiscated. Since it was the only film that had not been taken, the
group conspired that if they could somehow save Bill's film, they could save the trip. Like a scene from an
adventure flick, the group proceeded to distract, argue and stand in
front of the guards. The other members of the group literally kicked Bill's duffle bag (in small increments) the
15 feet from the "unsearched" to the "searched" pile, thereby saving his film. This was done at some
considerable risk since the guards were armed and had everyone's passport!
At the conclusion of the baggage search, the guards made the group leave the border crossing. The guards told the group they'd be contacted in the event they would be allowed to leave the country.
Almost 24 hours after their initial contact with the border guards,
the group was called back to the border where all of their film and possessions were returned. They
were told to immediately leave the country (no problem was the response!). The group was so elated and relieved upon being released,
that on the trip back to Katmandu they got drunk on a bottle of Johnnie Walker scotch whiskey. Bill had planned on making it a gift to someone he met on the trip, but in this case, he thought the group could make better use of it.
Click on the green button to visit William Neill's web page and see some of his work.
© 1996-1997 Kevin C. O'Neil, Eastern Light Nature Photography, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
