Covering the Warren Jeffs trial, I’m only in the courtroom for a couple of hours each day. Outside, the photographic options are limited. They boil down to: police providing security (above), attorneys arriving/leaving (below), and supporters of Warren Jeffs arriving/leaving.
Photographing the supporters is an interesting thing. You just look for the men in dark suits with 50’s hairstyles. Funny enough, one day I was photographing a tall skinny guy in a dark suit and the haircut of a Hoover-era FBI agent as he walked up to the court. Turns out he’s a writer covering the story.
The FLDS people must be used to the cameras by now. They just walk by, either smiling or with a facade of nervousness. Some have brought their wives.
Every time I take one of these photos, I wonder why I’m doing it. It’s not like we’re going to be running these photographs of people on the edges of the case. We have photos from inside the court of the witnesses and defendant, which are much more important. And the real challenge is trying to find out the names of each of these people. They don’t talk, and I don’t even bother asking anymore.
I guess it’s the TV stations who love to have the video of Warren Jeffs supporters walking into the court. That’s the kind of thing they’ll run over and over all day long. Here, below, they’re swarming around Warren Jeffs’ bodyguard, Willie Jessop.
