Black Night in June: Tiananmen Footage
Posted: Thu May 30, 2019 7:07 pm
My photographer friend, Chris Ranier, was in Tianamen Square that night. Of course, he was shooting. It was film on celluloid then. You know, rolls of film? Anyway, the shit was hitting the fan that night. The army knew where Chris was and he knew they knew. So he stashed his good shots under an acoustic tile on the ceiling outside his room. (30 years ago: no hallway video). Cops came. Confiscated the innocuous film in his room, told him to leave, and missed the massacre shots hidden outside the room.
Chris went out and shot some more. Not nearly as much as the guy in the video, but a lot. One of the very few fotogs who stayed. The People's Liberation Army ran busses up and down the streets. Large poster boards read: "All foreign journalists must leave." In English. Chris stayed, went out, shot some more.
Finally, the poster boards on the trucks read: Foreign Journalist Will be Shot on Sight.
So Chris figured he should leave. He got a taxi. "How much to the airport?" $1000.
Chris had his rolls of film duct taped to his legs. The airport was a madhouse of people, mostly non-Chinese, trying to get out and Chris made it through with his film.
Chris says the question he is most asked when he tells this story is: "$1000 to the airport? Didn't you even bargain with the guy."
"No," Chris tells them, "No I didn't."