13 thoughts on “Phototips #16: How To Prevent Theft”

  3. Mitch Alland

    DAVID

    Some stories from Rio. I used to travel to Rio often in 1970-75. Never thought about being robbed or mugged. One evening in 1975, walking down the Copacabana I was approaching a lottery ticket seller whose arms ended in stumps at the elbows: he had a lottery ticket box on a strap around his neck and, as I was just in front of him, a lottery ticket dropped that he had been holding in left armpit. Instinctively, I stooped and picked it up to him. As I was putting the ticket in his box he said (in Portuguese), “Sir, that must be your lucky number”. The next time I was in Rio was in 1990. Walking down the Copacabana (same scene): I was approaching an arm-less lottery ticket seller who dropped a ticket from his armpit: as I instinctively stooped down to pick up the ticket for him he said (in Portuguese), “Sir, that must be your lucky number”. It was only then that I remembered the 1975 and saw it was the same man.

    Second story. When I was in Rio in 1991 (not having been there since 1975), I heard horror stories about muggins and how dangerous Rio had become — much worse than now, I believe. Every time I left the hotel for a walk, on the advice of Brazilian friends, I carried only a credit card and a small amount of cash, leaving my wallet in the hotel safe. Taking a taxi back to the hotel one evening from dinner at the Churrasceria Jardim (fond memory but don’t know whether it still exists), driving up Avenida Atlantica, I noticed that the driver was going through all the red lights. I said, “Hey, why don’t you stop at the red lights?” He said, “Oh, you’re willing to risk that someone will put a gun to your head when we’re stopped at a light?”

    Another day I had an evening meeting with one of the richest and most famous men in Brazil. When he learned that I had another meeting at 7:00pm, he lent me his car and driver. As I entered the Mercedez sedan in the back, someone came to pick up an attaché case that had been left on the seat next to the driver. As he lifted the case, which had been lying upside down, the unlocked cover opened and an UZZI fell out of the case, obviously belonging to the bodyguard. I said, “Now I remember that I’m in Rio”.

    Last story. The same man invited my wife and me to his beach house at Buzios for the weekend. On Saturday morning, we took two brand-new Bell helicopters from a heliport in Leme to Buzios (five passengers altogether). He was 84 years old and spent the whole weekend speaking Portuguese with me (he wanted to make me speak the language) and French with my wife (he preferred it to Engkish, which he spoke just as well). Only on Sunday, after a feijaoda lunch and some caipirinhas, did he take a nap. While he was sleeping I took a walk on the beach in front of the house. A large speedboat with a dozen French tourists pulled up to ask me how to get to some beach. As I was speaking to them, four bodyguards, each holding an UZZI. One of them said to me, “Ask them in French whether they don’t realize, pulling up like that, with so many people in the boat, they could get killed?

    All that crime in Rio: “blame it on Brasilia” (to coin a phrase). Moving the capital from Rio to Brasilia meant that most of the federal government employees left Rio, where there was a tremendous employment loss. Also, in order to finance the building of Brasilia the government printed a huge amount of money, which started the Brazilian inflation…

    Cheers, Mitch/Paris

  5. marcin luczkowski

    in one video David is Indiana Jones,Casanova in all, here Steven Seagal. Who He will be in next one?
    50 shades of David? :)

  6. Mitch Alland

    DAVID

    Forgot to say, appreciate it, but how do you have the time to do all this? (Natural-born showman?)

    Another near-mugging story from Rio in 1975. As usual took a walk around 8pm on the Copacabana in the evening, with only a credit card in my back pocket. As I came to the brightest lit part of the Copacabana (the Hotel Medirien was there), with huge, tall halogen street lights all over the place, two women and three (big) men were walking toward me. One of the women embraced me and asked whether I wanted to go with her. But as she was hugging me she was feeling all my pockets to see whether I had a wallet. Finding nothing, she said to her companions in Portuguese: “let him go, he doesn’t have anything”. Amazing that I could have been mugged in the busiest section of the Copacabana, lit up as bright as daylight.

  7. Frostfrog

    Great advice, David – but it left me a little frustrated. What I really wanted was for your videographer to zoom in on the airplane and banner, so I could see what was being advertised and what kind of airplane was towing the ad.

  8. david alan harvey

    MITCH

    i don’t have time to do all this!! but my team was drinking caipirinhas and smoking some bad Rio weed and we decided we were long overdue for a photo tip…so we thought of this one….natural showman? not really…as a kid i was unable to stand in front of the class to do a book report…however my family did skits at home..just for us ..my dad traveled a lot, so when he would come home we would do a Welcome Home family skit…each kid doing a song or something totally silly of course…so that’s where it comes from i think….

    i have been robbed in Rio three times….everyone who lives here has a “been robbed” story…..we still do not stop at red lights at night….in the most benign scenarios one must be prepared to get robbed….broad daylight with everything quiet can be dangerous…so one must be aware at all times….

    cheers, david

  9. david alan harvey

    FROSTFROG

    i think that plane was a 172…..and the sign was an Itaipava beer banner……i could be wrong about the 172, but as you know that is a very common workhorse….it was either a 172 or something with a very similar profile….

    thnx for paying attention to detail :)

    cheers, david

  11. Frostfrog

    Thanks David for taking note and passing on the info. As you know from opportunity missed, an airplane will always catch my eye – and my lens.

  12. a civilian-mass audience

    oime…MY PHOTOPHILOSOPHERS …

    ACT ONE
    Scene Heading : Rio ,beach
    Mr.HARVEY …as a Greek Fisherman
    Character two… as an Octopus

    Sound effects…

    Viva BURN!!!

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