A Question of Exposing More than Film

Big Shout Magazine, June 1990
By GREGG KIRK

In the March 1990 one-year anniversary issue of this magazine, we featured an article describing the problems and pitfalls encountered while shooting our various cover photos (see: “Sex, Lies & Bordertape“). Half the reason for running the article was that we felt some of the bizarre and humorous occurrences would be of interest to our readers, and we also hoped that by printing the piece, it would in some way rid us of the cover-shot jinx.

I would like to say that, for the record, the jinx was alive and well this issue. In fact, what transpired during the shooting of this month’s cover photo surpasses anything that has happened so far — hence this special update.

Once again, we feel the need to print such an article for the reasons outlined, along with an added purpose.. to alert those heading to the Delaware Beaches of a growing and disturbing trend in over zealousness by the local gendarmes.

Progress on the June cover didn’t start until very late in the month of May. After wracking our brains for weeks, it wasn’t until managing editor Dave Hamill talked to Big Shout artist Matt Hall on the phone during a brainstorming session when an idea was born. The plan was to have a bikini-clad girl being assaulted by a giant crab, who would be stripping her of her bikini top. The header would read, “Take Off This Summer,” or “Take Off to the Beach.” To Matt Hall’s credit, he was only kidding about the idea and he was later horrified that we decided to move forward with it seriously!

After searching for a giant crab costume at several local costume shops and coming up empty, we decided to settle for a giant claw of some kind. On the day the shoot was to be scheduled, we contacted beach correspondent Roger Hillis for help. He called a few local seafood restaurants, but none would part with the giant fiberglas crabs mounted on their roofs. Roger did assure us, however, that he had two biking models in mind — one who was sure thing and another who would do it in a pinch.

I made my own crab claw out of cardboard and spray paint in about 10 minutes, and I headed for the beach thinking all was well. But when I arrived at the Rehoboth boardwalk a few hours later, Roger wasn’t there to meet me. Instead, his brother Cliff Hillis showed up to tell me there was a slight problem: there were no models. Both of the girls had fallen through.

I decided to call on my friend Tim Heuring who owns a clothes store in Rehoboth. After apprising him of the situation, he suggested calling a friend of his who had a girlfriend who might do it. After coaxing her over the phone myself and convincing her that although we needed her in a two-piece swimsuit and a crab would be stripping off her top, everything was above board. Amazingly, she decided to do it.

The model was Rehoboth local Melissa Baker. When I think back on the ridiculous events that unfolded that day, Melissa would have been better off refusing to be involved. But instead, she showed up with her boyfriend, Chris and another friend, and we all made our way to the Rehoboth boardwalk across from Dolle’s candy store.

Once we got on the beach, we looked for a semi-secluded place to do the shooting. Since it was a relatively overcast day and there weren’t many people on the boardwalk, we walked just a few hundred yards down the shoreline where we found a likely spot. Once there, Cliff manned the crab claw, Melissa changed from here oversized sweatshirt and boxer shorts, and I loaded the camera.

It was a cold day to be in a bathing suit, and I shot the film as fast as I could. During the shooting, however, a problem arose. Melissa was wearing a black bikini top, which she was trying to hide with her hands and arms to make it appear she was topless. It was next to impossible for her to effectively hide the black fabric, which kept showing through her arms. Her boyfriend Chris suggested that she very discreetly remove the top and be careful to cover up with her hands. He shielded her with the sweatshirt while she removed her top, and we continued shooting with her covering up more, at times, than what most modern bathing suits cover.

As the last frames were shot, we noticed that our photo session had attracted a few onlookers from the boardwalk about 50 yards away. As I wound the film, and as Chris helped Melissa back into her sweatshirt, two Rehoboth Beach policemen and one policewoman approached us. Apparently, an elderly couple, who had been sitting on one of the benches on the boardwalk had complained to the police about the photo session, and the police were quick to seek out any activity that might ruin the quiet tranquility of the beach area.

As the policewoman advanced on us, she said out loud, “This is a family beach. You can’t do this.”

“It’s all right,” I assured her. “We are leaving now, and besides, we weren’t doing anything wrong, were we?”

After some heated discussion, it looked as if we were free to go until fate swerved wildly out of control. We were literally walking away from the scene when the policewoman stopped us again. One of the policemen had been peppering the policewoman, who was apparently a summertime rookie, with questions.

“Did you see anything? You can’t arrest her for indecent exposure unless you saw something. It’s your call. What are you going to do? Did you see her breasts or an aureola?”

The woman looked perplexed for awhile, and the she suddenly decided she had seen Melissa expose herself. The policewoman would not listen to my reasoning that I had two rolls of color film that proved otherwise. The fact that made this all the more ridiculous was that Melissa had been covered up by the time the woman reached her on the beach. There was absolutely no way for her to have seen Melissa expose anything at all. Still, the woman persisted, and they hauled Melissa down to the police station where she was booked and scheduled for a hearing.

Not only is this a humiliating experience for a completely innocent individual, it marks an alarming trend that has been occurring every year around summertime. As the police force increases its ranks for the summer onslaught of tourists, they tend to employ inexperienced officers, who don’t always make good judgements. The overall climate of law enforcement can become reactionary as well.

The purpose of this article is not to criticize Rehoboth police for this incident. Instead, it stands as more of a warning for tourists traveling to these parts. It can also be seen as an apology to Melissa who may have an embarrassing smudge on her record because of a ridiculous turn of events.

COVER THIS: (update that ran in Big Shout Magazine, July 1990)

Last month’s cover picture and the tragic story behind it left many of our readers wondering what had become of the hapless model who was arrested for indecent exposure during the shooting of the cover photo. Was she imprisoned? Did she have to pay a fine? Was she sent away to spend life at a penal colony in French Guyana?

Luckily, one of the curious people who called early last month happened to be a Wilmington-area lawyer who felt that model Melissa Baker had been unjustly accused of baring her breasts on Rehoboth Beach that cold day in June. This attorney (who wished to remain anonymous) was so disturbed by the unfortunate events that he generously offered his services for free so that Melissa’s record would go unsullied.

Armed with two eye witnesses and two rolls of color film taken the day of the shoot, the lawyer accompanied Melissa to her hearing, fully prepared to take the budding model’s case to the highest court. And what transpired in the little seaside courtroom that day?

Well, to put everyone’s mind at ease, the charges were dropped against Melissa and she is free to pose in a bathing suit once again. In fact, she does just that in the fashion spread of this month’s magazine. Proving that she was more than a good sport about the legal mess, Melissa agreed to pose for Big Shout when it was made abundantly clear that there was to be plenty of fabric covering the top of her bathing suit this time. See her in a very uncontroversial one-piece bathing suit featured in our July 1990 issue (pictured left).