Paparazzo Stays in the Picture

Ron Galella is finally taking a break. The self-described paprazzo superstar, who once spent his time sneaking into hotels and prowling the streets for celebrities, now covers events only sparingly. Instead, Mr. Galella is concentrating on selling his prints in fine-art galleries, producing photography books featuring his work, and promoting "Smash His Camera," a documentary directed by Leon Gast about his career that airs June 7 on HBO.
Born into an Italian family in the Bronx, Mr. Galella, 79, didn't have the money to go to college, so he enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean war "to learn a career." There he became interested in photography, buying his first camera—a roloflex—off a sergeant in the photo lab and studying photography encyclopedias to learn his craft. After the war, he took advantage of the G.I. Bill to enroll at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., and began freelancing in 1958. He went on to shoot such luminaries as Marlon Brando (who famously knocked out five of Mr. Galella's teeth in 1973) and Jackie Kennedy Onassis (who sued him twice).
Mr. Galella says he is different from paparazzi photographers working today, whom he calls "gangbangers." "They just do it for the money, and that to me is not a good motive," he says. "To me, shooting the picture is the first reward. The check is the last reward."
Mr. Galella spoke with the Wall Street Journal about his craft, and why they don't make paparazzi like they used to.

Wall Street Journal: What's the biggest difference between being a paparazzo now versus during your heyday?
Ron Galella: There was a great freedom to move about and get into events. For example, I once followed Sophia Loren on board a plane at JFK. I just boarded the plane after her and took a picture of her with her son in her lap. Nobody questioned me; I just walked on and got off before the flight took off. Now you can't even get to the gate.
Plus, everyone gets the same picture. I don't know how they make a living now. When I did it, I didn't get a lot of money for the pictures, just normal rates, but I got them from a lot of different outlets. I'd rather do that then sell to one publication for double or triple that rate. The whole thing is my passion. I'm glad I did it my way.
WSJ: Do the actions of today's aggressive photographers tarnish the legacy of paparazzi like yourself?
Mr. Galella: I think it does. Nowadays, there's too many of them. There's no freedom to move and all the photographers get in each other's way, and it's dangerous sometimes. When I was shooting Jackie, my best year was 1970, and I got her 20 times throughout the course of the year. Today, the gangbangers shoot Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and other people I call "featherweights" all day and night. And they love it! Things have certainly changed.
WSJ: What makes a good paparazzo photograph?
Mr. Galella: The best is always the exclusive. No matter who is it, if you're the only one who has it, you'll make money. It's like an original painting. Then, stars doing unusual things or things that humanize them. I once got Julie Christie barefoot in a market in Malibu. Getting pictures of stars doing things is the main thing. On the red carpet nowadays, you get stars looking directly at the camera, and that's terrible. I like people doing things and relating to each other, getting natural expressions.
WSJ: Having spent your career shooting pictures of other people, how did it feel having documentarians record your every move?
Mr. Galella: I love it. I'm a ham, in a way; I could have been an actor. In fact, when I was studying at the art center, I would crash premieres and take pictures of people like Lucille Ball, William Holden and Frank Sinatra. To me, the whole thing was about curiosity. We see these stars on TV and in movies, and we want to know what they look like in person. Curiosity is the proper motivation.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart no more a couple, Stewart fed up with paparazzi

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are no more a couple, as Pattinson has clarified. Meanwhile Stewart is fed up with paparazzi

Internationally-acclaimed star Kristen Stewart is furious at the paparazzi. Earlier she had lashed out the tabloid for infringing on her privacy. Reports have surfaced that this time she has expressed her anger against the paparazzi who photographed her. Using harsh word, she said that she feels like she has been raped.

Besides, she told a British magazine that what she hates the most is being stalked by men with cameras. "All you see is an actor or a celebrity lit up but a flash.

"It’s so… The photos are so… I feel like I’m looking at someone being raped. A lot of the time I can’t handle it.

"It’s f**ked. I never expected that this would be my life."

This is not her first time outburst against the media. Earlier too she had ripped them apart after they had tailed her to find out about her relationship with Robert Pattinson. She had claimed that she wanted to avoid the media because they always pry on her privacy.

Besides, she also talked about her rumored relationship with Robert.

“People want me to say that I really like it when guys are funny and dorky but I’ve never really gone out with someone I’ve found attractive initially," she said, adding that she had career plans also.

“Oddly enough I have a really clean horizon, I’m excited about the last few films I did coming out but other than that – I always have my next three things planned out so to have a clean horizon is pretty nice."

Meanwhile Robert Pattinson has said that he is not dating Kristen Stewart and is single.

Paparazzi lose shooting case

A US judge has dismissed a lawsuit by two paparazzi who claimed they were shot at by the bodyguards of Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen and her husband, American football star Tom Brady.

Photographers Yuri Cortez and Rolando Aviles, supported by the news agency Agence France Presse, contended that the bullets narrowly missed their heads. They were trying to obtain photographs at a party in Costa Rica in April 2009.

Read the original story HERE.

Kristen Stewart calls paparazzi 'thugs'

Kristen Stewart has reportedly branded the photographers who follow her as "thugs".

Speaking to Elle magazine, the Twilight star revealed that she finds being hounded by the paparazzi very frustrating.

"The photographers, they're vicious. They're mean. They're like thugs," the 20-year-old said.

She added: "I don't even want to drive around by myself anymore. It’s f***ing dangerous."

Getty Images to Acquire Rex Features

Acquisition will Provide a Broader Selection of Compelling Entertainment Content to Meet Growing Demand for Celebrity Imagery

 Getty Images, the world's leading creator and distributor of visual content and other media, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Rex Features, which includes Los Angeles-based Berliner Photography. The acquisition will benefit existing and potential customers by making even more celebrity content easily accessible.

“Growing our entertainment imagery business continues to be a key strategic focus. The real winners will be our customers, who can now expect to see greater choice and more easily accessible imagery.”

"Celebrity and entertainment content is a growing and vital part of the editorial imagery industry and this acquisition positions us to meet and exceed the demand for nearly instantaneous material," said Jonathan Klein, co-founder and CEO of Getty Images. "Growing our entertainment imagery business continues to be a key strategic focus. The real winners will be our customers, who can now expect to see greater choice and more easily accessible imagery."
Getty Images intends to maintain Rex Features’ brand and with the combined resources of Getty Images and Rex Features, Getty Images will continue to generate new imagery for their respective celebrity and entertainment collections. Additionally, Getty Images’ global distribution channels will increase international customers’ access to Rex Features’ products and services.
The acquisition of Rex Features was driven by the continually evolving celebrity imagery business and gives Getty Images more coverage capabilities for events and portraiture and will expand the entertainment and celebrity imagery segment.
“Over more than five decades, Rex Features has built a strong heritage and reputation that Getty Images will build upon to the benefit of customers worldwide,” added Klein. “Getty Images has always been dedicated to making strategic investments that will provide long-term value to our customers.”

Zombie killer Woody Harrelson prevails in paparazzi lawsuit

Woody 'I thought you were a zombie' Harrelson will not have to face off in court against a TMZ photographer who sued him over an alleged assault in 2006. All charges were dropped in addition to a counter suit Harrelson filed citing invasion of privacy.
According to paperwork filed with the Los Angeles County Supreme Court, the two reached a settlement agreement earlier this month, although the specifics were not released.
Harrelson allegedly broke Josh Levine's camera, choked him, and released the hounds on him, aka his bodyguards.
Last year, Harrelson freaked out on a couple of paparazzi trying to snap pictures of him with his daughter as they deplaned from Mexico. He later claimed he was disoriented from filming Zombieland and believed them to be zombies. L.A hates paparazzi and loves Harrelson this was accepted at face value.

Photog Sues Sean Penn Over Alleged Death Threat

Paparazzo claims actor broke his camera, menaced him

Sean Penn is already facing criminal charges in the wake of a run-in with a photographer in October, and the actor is now the defendant in a civil case about the incident as well. Jordan Dawes alleges that the volatile actor kicked him and broke his camera, then said, "The next time I see you, you will be in a box," reports TMZ. The criminal case is pending.

Sandra Bullock Paparazzi Feeding Frenzy Videos: Pure Chaos

What, you ask, is it like to be Sandra Bullock? Here's a video from her first public outing since Jesse James' affair, when she drove to her money manager's house on Wednesday. Warning: Camera flashes may induce epileptic seizure.

Deputies respond to Sandra Bullock home due to paparazzi disturbance

Sheriff's deputies were back at Sandra Bullock's Sunset Beach home today because a neighbor reported a disturbance by the paparazzi, who have flocked to the area in the wake of the Oscar-winner's recent marital strife, a sheriff's sergeant said.

``Someone in the media was reportedly yelling at the house,'' Orange County sheriff's Sgt. John Meyer said.
By the time deputies arrived, the disturbance was over. No arrests were made and no citations issued, he said.
On Friday, neighbors complained about about the swarm of photographers and reporters assembled outside the home of Sandra Bullock and Jesse James, but sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said that no laws had been broken and no violations committed.
The paparazzi and reporters have camped out in the area since James issued an apology for admitting an affair with graffiti model Michelle ``Bombshell'' McGee while Bullock was shooting ``The Blind Side.'' Bullock won a best actress Academy Award for her work in the picture.

What Journalists Should Learn From the Paparazzi

It took me years of searching, but I think I finally found the aggressive, audacious, uncompromising media our democracy needs.


While channel-surfing the other day, I came across a fresh-faced, young reporter for a cable network aggressively following an important person around an airport and refusing to let up with his questions. The unwilling interviewee grew angry, suddenly snapping and shouting at the reporter to leave him alone.


“Do you think you’re immune to questions?” the reporter shouted back repeatedly.
I was speechless. “Do you think you’re immune to questions?” It was perfect—such a simple and powerful question.


This would have been the most hopeful piece of journalism I had seen in years if it weren’t for one small detail: This was not a journalist from CNN or Fox or MSNBC. In fact, this wasn’t even a journalist at all. And the important person? No, he wasn’t a politician or a Wall Street CEO or a government official.


The exchange was between an E! network reporter and a Hollywood celebrity.
And that’s when it clicked. Could the news media learn something from the paparazzi?


The paparazzi paradigm shift


Sounds ridiculous, right? But hear me out. Just a few seconds after I watched this exchange, my channel surfing landed me on C-SPAN, where I watched members of the press pool ask lame questions about President Obama’s smoking habits instead of probing ones about healthcare legislation.


I started to imagine that paparazzi reporter in the press pool, doggedly pursuing a line of questioning and refusing to take “no comment” for an answer. In an age of woefully tame media, old D.C. journos could learn a thing or two from reporters traditionally considered at the bottom of the news industry’s barrel. Imagine if Washington journalists were as aggressive and relentless as a paparazzo desperately trying to get a Brangelina quote. Imagine if the media demanded real answers from the Wall Street investment firms who tanked the economy, got a taxpayer bailout and then paid out exorbitant bonuses to executives.


If aggressive, unremitting paparazzi reporters were on Capitol Hill and Wall Street to hound our lawmakers and CEOs, we might finally get some answers—and persuade them to actually work in the public’s interest. Picture the paparazzi crushing our flabbergasted elected officials with cameras and questions as they leave closed-door meetings, asking over and over, “Who was in the room? What was said?”
The mortgage crisis might not seem as sexy as the sordid love life of the Twilight casts, but with continually aggressive questioning of the bankers, policymakers and lobbyists who wield so much power, we might actually avoid future financial disasters, foreign wars and corrupt elections.


Media twilight zone


The news media should collectively be a watchdog for the public interest, but they seem to have lost their bite. Has it really gotten so bad that I’m left wishing that Los Angeles’ finest trash-talking shutterbugs were on Capitol Hill?


It’s starting to feel like we’re stuck in the Media Twilight Zone. Mainstream media are increasingly using cost-cutting measures like slashing jobs and reorienting their newsroom staff to cover the kind of “soft” and cheap-to-produce entertainment and gossip stories that the paparazzi specialize in. Today it seems that journalists aren’t celebrated for publishing a hard-hitting story—they’re celebrated just for asking a few hard-hitting questions. In other words, we have come to expect journalism that doesn’t actually challenge those in power. When journalists actually do, we start handing out awards. But asking hard questions shouldn’t be an award-winning feat: it should be the norm.


But it’s no use to blame the journalists. Consolidated media has meant only a certain kind of journalist makes it to the top and gets press credentials: the type who ask softball questions that politicians can hit with their eyes closed – and that don’t compromise the media companies’ own interests. I’m ready for a new media era where reporters have bosses who actually want them to get the story, and where the news isn’t run like a corporation, by and for corporations.


What I want will take big structural changes – the kind that will put reporters back to work, pump more money into our public media system to pay for journalism and ensure that those who ask the tough questions aren’t denied the benefits of an open Internet.


Still, with CNN’s homepage regularly plastered with celebrity “news”—will the Tiger Woods saga ever end?—it doesn’t seem unfair to ask journalists to learn a basic lesson from the paparazzi: Don’t take no for an answer.


This was first published by InTheseTimes.com

Cloak Camera Bag Hides Your Camera Until The Last Possible Moment

Paparazzi or no paparazzi, if you’re carrying an SLR shaped camera you’re gonna get some looks.  If it ain’t the wannabe celebs sneering at you it’s the locals rolling their eyes at your benign tourist interests.

But now you can move freely amongst the elite in a discreet fashion thanks to the cloak bag.  This handy bag – it’s actually more of case – snugly holds your camera and when that time arrives for a quick snap shot, you just flip open either end, stuff your hands through the side inserts and start shooting.  So you see, you never have to remove the camera from the bag, and when you’re done with your snooping you just sling it back over your should like any everyday bag.

50 Cent bodyguard scuffles with paparazzi?

50 Cent's bodyguard has reportedly got in a fight with photographers.

According to TMZ, the man was taken into custody after he scuffled with several paparazzi outside a hotel in Copenhagen.

The police are holding the suspect for 24 hours pending a decision on whether they want to bring the incident to trial.

A rep for 50 Cent has yet to comment on the matter.

'Bachelor' Wedding Paparazzi Sue ABC

Two paparazzi tossed out just before last month's taping of "The Bachelor" wedding have sued for battery and false imprisonment.
     Eric Brogmus and Maximiliano Lopez Jr. say O & R Protective Services, Disney/ABC Television Group and the show's producer, Next Entertainment, "breached their duty of reasonable conduct by attacking and detaining or authorizing the attack and retention" of the two men who say they were "lawfully on a public place."
     The two were taking pictures of "Bachelor" couple Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney before the couple's Feb. 27 wedding near the Tarranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. A video clip
     The lawsuit doesn't describe the incident, but says guard Jose Antonio Revilla "and several of his agents ... attacked, detained and made false claims" against the two photographers.
     Lopez and Brogmus were arrested by Los Angeles officials on suspicion of misdemeanor battery and unlawful blocking of a sidewalk, according to the Los Angeles Times. Prosecutors decided there wasn't enough evidence to charge the men.
     The two seek unspecified damages for medical expenses and lost earnings. posted on X17online.com shows a security guard choking one of the photographers and taking him to the ground.

Robert Pattinson shares his paparazzi nightmare at “Remember Me” premiere

The Robert Pattinson starrer “Remember Me” release is just around the corner as we are less than a fortnight away from the highly awaited movie. And why is it highly hyped? It’s hyped because the vampire from Twilight who melted millions of heart throughout the world with his role of Edward Cullen will be appearing in his first major movie outside the Twilight banner.

Robert Pattinson and co-star Emilie de were seen on March 1st at the premiere of Remember Me held at the Paris Theater in NYC. In an interview at the premier Robert was asked about how it really felt when all his fans crazily run after him and cause trouble.
The Twilight stud who plays an everyday young guy who falls in love with a sweet girl at the same time coping with family tragedies in “Remember Me” said it’s not the fans that trouble him, but it’s the paparazzi.

Why is that? The star justified by saying its not the fans who make money out of chasing stars, they just like to catch a glimpse of them, root for them and maybe me get an autograph but it’s the paparazzi who would go to any extent to intrude in their private lives and cover moments which are meant to be private.

Getty Acknowledges Photo Setup With Tiger Getty Acknowledges Photo Setup With Tiger

Last Wednesday, two days before Tiger Woods statement, Getty Images released a photo of the golfer jogging near his Florida home.

When asked about how the photo — which dampened hopes of the paparazzi getting the first clear picture of Woods — was arranged, the folks at Getty had no comment.

Today, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera and I asked Getty Images CEO Jonathan Klein on "Power Lunch" how it all worked out. 

On how the deal came together: "Over a long period of time, Getty Images has established itself as the gold standard in terms of not only the image quality, but the way we behave. As a result of that, we don't do paparazzi images and as a result of that, we often get a called in either for a non-profit basis like we do all the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie photos entirely non-profit...We were approached and Tiger happened to know the photographer (Sam Greenwood) and has known him for a long time."

On how much Getty made on the photo: "Very little because the deal that we did with them was we would make them available to the other wire agencies."

Gossip Girl Filming Disrupted By Paparazzi Scuffle

Production on hit TV show Gossip Girl ground to a halt on Wednesday (24Feb10) after a fight broke out between a set security guard and a paparazzo.
Gossip Girl star Blake Lively was shooting a scene in Midtown Manhattanwith guest actor William Baldwin when a group of photographers began gathering around the set.

The paparazzi were persistently ignoring the security and production staff, and the scene erupted. I clearly saw an exchange of verbal and physical blows

Tension grew between the bodyguards and the snappers as they ignored repeated requests to step back to avoid ruining the take.
But cameras had to stop rolling altogether when one stubborn photographer directed the racist 'N' word towards a member of security, sparking a violent confrontation which left the offending snapper nursing a bruised forehead.

An eyewitness tells , "The paparazzi were persistently ignoring thesecurity and production staff, and the scene erupted. I clearly saw an exchange of verbal and physical blows".
Police were called to the scene but neither party decided to press charges and filming resumed on Wednesday afternoon.

George Clooney is driven out of Lake Como villa by paparazzi

The actor George Clooney is reported to be selling the villa on Lake Como that he shares with his Italian girlfriend after their privacy was invaded by paparazzi and fans.
Potential buyers of the 18th-century Villa Oleandra at Laglio on Lake Como, which Clooney bought in 2002 for a reported $8 million, include the footballer David Beckham, who plays for AC Milan.

Beckham and his wife, Victoria, who are living in a hotel in Milan, are said to have fallen in love with the villa while staying with Clooney last spring. Beckham later told team-mates that it was “quiet and peaceful, and not far from Milan”. The Corriere della Sera newspaper said that lawyers from Milan had approached the Swiss property company dealing with the sale on the Beckhams’ behalf.

Italian media also reported that Roustam Tariko, the Russian vodka and banking tycoon, was another prospective buyer. His company, however, insisted last night that he had not seen the villa and had never expressed an interest in purchasing it.

The villa complex, said to be on sale for 20 million euros (£18 million), includes a jetty, a botanical garden, tennis courts and an annexe. A short drive from Milan, Lake Como’s crystal-clear waters and mountain setting have long attracted the rich and famous. Other VIPs with properties at Lake Como include Sir Richard Branson, Donatella Versace and José Mourinho, the manager of Inter Milan.

Clooney’s girlfriend, Elisabetta Canalis, a former Italian showgirl and television hostess, was reported to be “furious and exasperated” last summer when the villa was staked out by paparazzi. The couple were particularly angry when photographers climbed over the villa wall and took photos of an under-age girl while she was changing clothes in one of his guest rooms, as well as photos of Clooney and Canalis.

The actor said at the time: “I don’t know about the law in the United States but in Italy it’s illegal for photographers to climb over my wall and to take long-lens pictures of a 13-year-old girl in her bedroom. I draw the line of privacy at that.”

Guests at the villa have included Hollywood stars such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and scenes for the film Ocean’s Twelve were shot there. Property prices in the Como area have risen since the actor’s arrival.

Clooney and Canalis are said to be looking for “somewhere more private”, possibly in Le Marche or Sardinia.

One local paper reported that they were thinking of staying at Como but moving to a castle on a small island on the lake owned by a businessman from Bergamo.

Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker clashes with paparazzi

Travis Barker  got into a scuffle with paparazzi while on his way to breakfast with his daughter and pals in Calabasas, Calif.

Footage on TMZ.com shows Barker and his friends allegedly spitting at two photographers and videographers and then striking a camera.

A videographer claimed a member Barker's posse took his cell phone and another paparazzo said his tires were slashed.

Cops were called by an unidentified man who says he saw the fight on Sunday begin outside a theater. No arrests were made, but a vandalism report was taken.

According to MTV.com, Barker later tweeted his version of the incident, "When I'm out at breakfast at 8 a.m. in the morning the last thing I appreciate is some photographer threatening me 2 fight while he's 3 deep.

"When I defend myself/my kids that don't make me a tough guy.

"I was outnumbered and threatened so I did what any man would," he wrote.

Sean Penn News Faces JailSean Penn News Faces Jail

Latest Sean Penn news reveals he could face 18 months in jail for battery and vandalism. The actor has a history of attacking photographers and the paparazzi.

Sean Penn has not learned that you cannot attack another person with physical violence. Repeated incidents are always involving the paparazzi. The Oscar-winning actor has been charged with two crimes that occurred last October.
Penn, 49, could face a jail sentence if he's convicted. He was charged with misdemeanor battery and vandalism after allegedly kicking a photographer in the leg and breaking his camera last October. The incident took place at an upscale shopping center in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles.
He will make his first court appearance on March 22. Los Angeles County prosecutors had earlier declined to file charges against Penn. At first, they didn't believe the case merited felony charges. However, the incident happened on tape and that was evidence used to file the charges.
He recently won best actor Oscars for his performances in "Mystic River" and "Milk." He was also nominated for his work in "Dead Man Walking," "I Am Sam" and "Sweet and Lowdown."
Violence Towards Paparazzi
Penn could face up to 18 months in jail if he's convicted. This isn't the first stint he's had with a photographer. In 1987, he served more than 30 days in jail for assaulting an extra on a film set.
In 1989, he also faced a domestic assault complaint during his marriage to pop star Madonna. The marriage ended in divorce. That incident was also caught on camera.
In 2006, he attacked a paparazzo at his brother's funeral (that is just wrong is so many ways). Penn is also facing a break up with his wife Robin Wright Penn. However, they briefly reconciled, then he served with divorce papers in August 2009.

Alec Baldwin Fights with Paparazzi After Hospital Release

Alec Baldwin exchanged unpleasantries with a member of the paparazzi Thursday night, hours after being released from the hospital.
 
Video footage of the incident shows the 30 Rock star going after New York Post photographer Tim Wiencis in a heated exchange outside the actor's New York City apartment building. Baldwin was quickly pulled away from the snapper by several policeman, who were positioned nearby.

Wiencis told police, "He just assaulted me." He did not file charges, however.
Baldwin, 51, was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital early Thursday after his 14-year-old daughter, Ireland, called 911, claiming that her dad was "unresponsive" in his West Side Manhattan apartment.

"This was a misunderstanding on one person's part," Baldwin's rep, Matthew Hiltzik, later explained in a statement. "Alec was quickly released from the hospital, he's completely fine and will be at work today."

Baldwin is due to co-host the Academy Awards next month with Steve Martin.