Mo Gelber desperately wants to win a photo contest.
The Brooklyn, N.Y. local submitted a photograph he took on Aug. 16 to Project Imaginat10n, a contest sponsored by Canon and film director Ron Howard where ten user-submitted photographs are selected and made into a film series.
Gelber’s image, entitled “Last Kiss,” depicts a young couple kissing while handcuffed and being dragged by two police officers into Manhattan Criminal Court.
The contest runners notified Gelber that his photo was being considered for the final round, but before it was selected, he needed to get the couple to sign a release form.
The problem? Gelber didn’t know the identities of the mysterious couple, or how to get in touch with them.
The photographer took his search to Facebook. On Sept. 5, he posted the photograph on his page, asking his friends and acquaintances to disseminate the image in hopes that it would reach the subjects, or at least someone who could identify them.
“I entered this photo in a major contest which I am about to win and need them to sign a release form. When this photo wins the contest, they will be in a very big movie with famous actors and directors.”
On Sept. 6, a woman who identified herself as Alexis Creque got a hold of Gelber and informed him that she and her boyfriend were the subject of the photograph. The two were arrested for graffiting the exterior of exclusive lounge Milk & Honey.
Unfortunately for Gelber, Creque stated that she won’t sign the release form until her boyfriend, who she refused to identify, is freed from jail.
Gelber won’t give up so easily. “I will bring the release form to Rikers if I have to,” he told the New York Daily News, “I just really want to win this contest.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Mr. Gelber seeking a comment on whether he has successfully convinced the couple to sign the release, but he has not responded as of this writing.
