The arrogance of Apple and their PR team, seems to have spilled over to the camera crew that the company employed today at their Sydney iPad launch when press photographers at the event were physically pushed out of the way by an Apple video cameraman.
At one stage I was shooting a picture of 22 year old Rahul Koduri the guy who had queued all night to buy an iPad when an Apple employed camera man complete with crew pushed in front of me.
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| Australian photographer Alan Pryke being manhandled by Apple security guard after Apple TV crew pushed in. |
When challenged he said “We are from Apple f***K off. When I challenged him again an assistant with the film crew grabbed my arm and tried to push me out of the way.
Standing across from me when the incident happened was Alan Pryke who earlier had been involved in an incident with the same video crew.
Pryke, a photographer for The Australian, was pushed by a heavy handed guard while he waited with the rest of the media pack for the first iPad to go on sale.
The incident took place just metres from the line of customers who had been waiting all night for the store to open.
News of the incident was reported to the onsite manager of EastSide Protection Security Services, hired by Apple for crowd control.
The Australian newspaper said that Mr Pryke, a news photographer with The national newspaper, arrived at Apple’s George Street store early today to capture the mayhem of the iPad launch.
They said that and his colleagues from various media outlets huddled tightly in the bitter cold on the footpath alongside legions of iPad buyers waiting for the doors to open when an Apple employed TV crew pushed in.
Pryke said that a short time before the 8am (AEST) launch, an Apple video crew arrived and took prime position in front of the rest of the media, breaking the established agreement of first in gets the best position.
Mr Pryke and his News Ltd colleague Chris Pavlich sought to retake their positions and security stepped in, grabbing Mr Pryke by the shirt and pushing him backwards.
“A security guard just grabbed me by the shirt and pushed me back.
“I said ‘don’t touch me’ and he said ‘I didn’t touch you’.”
Mr Pryke told the security guard that his actions were captured by other photographers present.
