I've flown in to Guantanamo Bay today and by noon was in court; or rather, in the court's hallway. I'm here to sketch Hamdan procedures- Hamdan was Osama bin Laden's driver. The witness up stipulated to not be drawn and therein insued confusion and the utterly frustrating experience of being a court artist not allowed in court. The happy ending of sorts is that I managed to get one done when I was allowed in at the tail end of the day- 4:30. Given that every drawing is not allowed out until it has been approved by military it was clearly unnecessary to keep me out- I would not have been able to draw him anyway. Ah, well, what's done is done, and tomorrow is a full day- in court. Just an added note, the military did apologize several times over and assured me it won't happen again.
Swing by tomorrow eve for an update..
2 comments:
Hi, Janet
As I'm sure you know, this sketch of Salim Hamdan has illustrated headlines today. It's on the BBC website. For the first time I noticed the artist's name. Courtroom artists usually remain anonymous. I'm curious. How did you manage to gain public credit for your artwork? Is it because you're a freelance illustrator, rather than a media employee? Or for some other reason, a good agent perhaps?
Hi,
I apologize for not answering much sooner! Regarding my name credit, it may well be due to my freelance status. I have enjoyed a very good working relationship with media and military and feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to sketch the tribunals.
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