President urges media shutterbugs to respect daughters’ privacy

The Obama White House, like administrations before it, has gone to great lengths to accommodate the press corps traveling with the president on his first official vacation in office. Staffers arranged for a filing center at a local school, assembled “pools’’ of reporters to tail the president if he goes out, and promised to brief the press daily.

But the real message to those hoping to cover the president’s vacation is: really, we wish you wouldn’t.

Unlike recent presidents, Obama has two young children, and the first couple is adamant that the girls be left alone. That means no approaching, cameras in tow, when Sasha and Malia are trying to get ice cream, or perhaps ride on the island’s famed carousel.

Aside from wishing a good time for all, in fact, the president had one clear message yesterday for reporters, said Bill Burton, the deputy White House press secretary: “The first family would very much appreciate if you respect the privacy of the girls while they’re out here on vacation.’’

That was before Burton even got to the matters of whether the president would be conferring with advisers while on vacation (yes, some) or how he felt about the recent elections in Afghanistan (looking forward to hearing the results along with everybody else).

“I asked him if he had a message for the press corps, and that’s what it is,’’ Burton told those of the press that traveled to the Vineyard on the White House charter.

Further, added press aide Katie Lillie, there will be no tolerating reporters using cellphones to call or text friends with the president’s latest movements on the island. Since the Vineyard has relatively few roads - and it’s easy to figure out how Obama would travel from one venue to another - those in the press pool must agree not to telegraph where he’s going.

Violators, she said, would be thrown out of the pool.

Annie Leibovitz, photographer of stars, faces ruin

Annie Leibovitz is as famous as the people she photographs but now the genius behind the lens is close to financial ruin -- a victim, some say, of her own relentless artistic ambition.

Among the qualities making Leibovitz, 59, the most sought after portrait photographer in the world are legendary perfectionism and the pouring of resources into lavish sets.

Over the course of her long career, nothing has been too extreme in Leibovitz's pursuit of the perfect picture.

She put former action icon and current California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on top of a mountain, submerged black actress Whoopi Goldberg in a bath of milk and closed France's Versailles palace to shoot Kirsten Dunst posing as Marie-Antoinette.

Circus animals, fire, airplanes -- she was rarely denied a requested prop, however seemingly outrageous.

That kind of imagination, and the stylized, hyper-realistic portraits she produced, had a long line of celebrities, from Hollywood stars to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, beating a path to Leibovitz's door.

Yet behind a facade of unlimited financial means, Leibovitz was spending her way into nightmare.

In what now appears as a disastrous decision to raise funds, Leibovitz took a 24-million-dollar loan from Art Capital Group (ACG) -- in effect a high-end pawn broker -- in December 2008 using her own photographs as collateral.

That debt is due September 8 and if she can't pay up, she could lose her life's work.

ACG, which specializes in making loans to owners of high value art works, is unlikely to adopt a soft line.

Leibovitz must "comply with the sales agreement she signed authorizing Art Capital to sell the fine art and real estate assets and to pay the invoices that are due," ACG spokesman Montieth Illingworth said in a statement.

The over-leveraged photographer not only risks losing her photo archives, which The New York Times estimates could be worth 50 million dollars, but also her house in the trendy Greenwich Village district of Manhattan and a second home outside the city.

If she is forced to declare bankruptcy, it will then be up to the courts to decide how to distribute the assets.

Banking giant Goldman Sachs entered the fray this week with a claim to own part of Leibovitz's debt.

ACG disputes that, but says Goldman Sachs could be invited to bid for the loan.

Leibovitz's career has few parallels. Her famous shoots include a nude portrait of John Lennon and Yoko Ono -- just before the Beatle was murdered -- and nude and pregnant actress Demi Moore.

Despite moving in such glamorous circles, Leibovitz has never been known for having a knack for finance.

When she was hired to shoot ads for American Express in the 1980s, it emerged she had been previously turned down by the company when applying for a credit card.

New York's chattering classes are aghast at the renowned photographer's downfall, making her the latest spectacular victim of the bad debt crisis and nationwide recession.

The weekly New York Magazine published a lengthy article recounting her perfectionism at work and her lavish personal taste, including an apartment on the banks of the Seine in Paris to please her lover, writer Susan Sontag, who died in 2004.

Anna Wintour, the equally famous editor of Vogue magazine, said in a documentary that Leibovitz was priceless.

"Budget is not something that enters into her consciousness, but it is worth it because at the end of the day, she gives you an image that nobody else can," said Wintour.

Beyonce's bodyguard assualted by paparazzi on video

Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z have been working overtime lately, so the couple decided to take a vacation in Croatia. The singer took a hired yacht into the ocean and had a blast riding the water waves!

Unfortunately their vacation turned out to be not so fun when one of Beyonce's bodyguards was hit in the back by a paparazzi with a camera stand!

Pitt 'enjoyed arse-kicking in Basterds'

Brad Pitt has reportedly confessed that he enjoyed his role in Inglourious Basterds because he got to shoot numerous fight scenes.

The 45-year-old plays a Nazi-hunting American soldier in Quentin Tarantino's latest movie.

Contactmusic quotes him as saying: "I just like kicking arse, period. Didn't have to be Nazi, I can beat any ass. Any arse I like kicking, I just kick it.

"The role made me a little tougher. I now walk with a little more swagger."

However, Pitt explained that he is comparatively calm when it comes to the paparazzi, joking: "The [paparazzi] are my friends, they take good care of me. They are really kind and generous and thoughtful people who make the world a better place."

George Clooney Suing Paparazzi Over Underage Pictures

It’s George Clooney versus the paps! He’s reportedly suing the pesky photographers for crossing the line recently at his home in Italy.

According to TMZ, a photographer climbed over the wall on Clooney’s property and took pictures of a 13-year-old girl changing in one of his guest rooms.

The pap also got shots of George and his new lady friend Elisabetta Canalis getting cozy in the back yard. The pics have been published in two magazines, and now Georgey boy is suing mad.

He released a statement saying, "We're suing two magazines AND a photographer. 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."

Hayden Panettiere Blames Paparazzi For Life's Woes

The 19-year-old actress has spent a lot of time growing up in front of the cameras, having worked in the industry since she could barely walk.

But she’s still not used to the celebrity gossip limelight.

She blames the paparazzi for ruining her relationships, most notably the one she had with Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia. Panettiere said she’s pissed by the endless cycle of the public craving details about celebs, and the paparazzi who feed it.

Not that she plays into this by posing in Details or anything.

Hayden at the Teen Choice Awards, hating having her photo taken.

“It’s very, very difficult and people have no idea what they do to peoples’ relationships. They destroy them. The paparazzi and the public,” she told Company.

“The public wants to read about your personal life, and the paparazzi give it to them by nosing into your personal life and saying things that are horrible.”

Sure, she's got a point. But she also dated a 30-year-old guy when she was 18, and stars on a hugely successful show. That's going to attract some attention.

Since breaking up with Milo, she has been linked to British TV presenter Steve Jones (age 32, for those keeping score). She's sported some bikinis and a misspelled tattoo lately, both of which are going to be magnets for attention, too!

Brigitte Bardot and the Original Paparazzi

As fashion legend Brigitte Bardot turns 75, a new exhibition of iconic images of her life through a lens opens in London.

Fittingly placed to coincide with this year’s London Fashion Week, the exhibition at James Hyman Gallery focuses on the 50-year history of the paparazzi and explores Brigitte’s pivotal role in creating an entirely new image of female sexuality and youth fashion.

Alongside exclusive shots of the beautiful Brigitte, the exhibition showcases the work of Tazio Secchiaroli – the man behind the character Paparazzo in Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita – and, ironically, the most famous paparazzo ever.

Innovatively charting the development of photography, the collection explores the ever-powerful rise of celebrity and probes our present-day obsession with shots of stars in front of the flashbulbs.

Old begets new as images of Brigitte on the set of Jean-Luc Godard’s Le Mépris point enticingly to Jean Paul Gaultier’s brand-new and exciting collection. Inspired by the seminal film, the s/s 2010 line promises to be presented with elegance by Brigitte lookalike model Lara Stone.

As well-known pictures nestle among previously unseen gems, debating both the history and the future of fashion, this exhibition promises an enthralling and rare experience redolent with meaning for past and present times.

Brigitte Bardot and the Original Paparazzi: An exhibition of rare original vintage photographs
3 September-3 October 2009
James Hyman Gallery, W1 (020 7494 3857)

Gerard Butler bodyguard under investigation for paparazzi flack

Once again, a paparazzo is at the bottom of an ongoing police investigation, this time to question the bodyguard of actor Gerard Butler. Butler is co-starring with Katherine Heigl in "The Ugly Truth," a major motion picture now in wide release.

Currently, Butler is on location filming "The Bounty" and sparking rumors of a possible romance with Jennifer Aniston. Paparazzi who got wind of the shoot have saturated the locale trying to catch the pair in a tell-tale embrace. No amount of denials can keep the curious in line. Allegedly, this potentially inflammatory situation pushed Butler's bodyguard Chris Tsipouras over the line. Unsubstantiated reports say Tsipouras became enraged over the paparazzi's behavior and purposefully damaged the exterior of cameraman James Devaney's car.

This isn't the first time paparazzi have inspired retaliation in an effort to make them disappear. Last year, rapper Kanye West and his manager were arrested after an airport scuffle with a paparazzo devolved into a smashing experience.

I don't think anyone blames Tsipouras for taking matters into his own hands. But when balanced against the rights of a free press under the First Amendment, paparazzi do have a right to work freely i.e. snap photographs, without threat of loss or intentional bodily harm. Property damage, although completely understandable, is not the answer, nor should it be tolerated in a law-abiding society.

Mel Gibson Attacks Paparazzi: Photographer Falsely Accusing Actor

Actor Mel Gibson was allegedly involved in an incident with a persistent photographer yesterday, that ended with the photographer filing a report against the actor. According to accesshollywood.com, the victim is claiming that he was pushed by Gibson when he tried to take a photo.

Mel Gibson and his pregnant girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva were attending the grand opening of the Playhouse Nightclub, where the incident was meant to have taken place. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department said that the man stated he wasn’t injured.

Although in an initial investigation, detectives interviewed witnesses, who reportedly disputed the victims account. Other reports have suggested that the police feel that the photographer is falsely accusing Mel Gibson and no criminal charges will be filed against him.

Angry Jude 'snaps at photgrapher'

Riled up Jude Law has lost his cool with the paparazzi again after he was pictured 'accidentally' slapping a female photographer in the face in the early hours of this morning.

Moody Jude allegedly lashed out at the woman, who appeared to get in his path as he left The Automat bar in Mayfair at 12.30am.

Pow: Jude takes a hand to the back of the snapper's head

Fuming Jude is pictured seemingly swinging his arm out at the paparazzo, with other pictures showing his hand pushing the back of her head.

The 28-year-old woman is then pictured holding her face and apparently wincing in pain.

The alleged bust-up kicked off after the actor let his hair down in the same venue as Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio following his latest performance in Hamlet at the Wyndham Theater.

But a spokesperson for the star, 36, has been quick to defend the actor's action.

A spokeswoman said: 'This is all nonsense. Last night's incident was an accident.'

'Jude was blinded by the camera flashes when he left the restaurant, raised his hand to shield himself and inadvertently struck somebody standing very close. He apologised and left. Pictures of this sort can often be misleading.

Out of my face: Photographer holds her face as Jude puts his arm up

The actor's meltdown is not his first paparazzi-related incident. He was arrested two years ago for allegedly attacking a photographer near his home.

Today, Jude's latest 'victim' was quick to speak out and defend herself after the street tussle.

The photographer claimed: 'He hit me full on the face, it was a real stinger, it was very sore.'

The actor's outburst comes after recent pictures have shown him glum under the strain of droves of autograph hunters outside his theater each night.

Sienna Miller: I flashed paparazzi

But they weren't allowed to take her photo

Sienna Miller teased paparazzi photographers who are banned from taking her picture.

The actress, 27, admits it gave her great satisfaction.

'I was the first person to ever sue and win on harassment so now they can't do anything, she told Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear.

'I actually saw two of them the other day that I recognised and I started running.

'And they were like "we can't", and I was like haha and flashed them. It was the best feeling.'

Calif. bill proposes fines for paparazzi

A bill to crack down on the paparazzi is making progress in Sacramento, calling for steep fines for photographers who break the law.

The increase in clashes between paparazzi and celebrities in recent years has not gone unnoticed. A recent encounter between Michael Jackson's ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, and a photographer quickly escalated. Massive paparazzi crowds have surrounded Britney Spears and created conflict with Malibu residents who were protecting Matthew McConaughey.

A state Senate committee approved an amendment to an anti-paparazzi bill by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass. The amendment is aimed at keeping paparazzi from trespassing onto celebrity estates and from violating traffic laws. In addition, government prosecutors and private individuals could seek civil fines of up to $50,000 against violators.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the California Newspaper Publishers Association oppose the measure, citing violations of free speech. They also say the measure will not solve the current problem.

Assembly Speaker Bass issued the following statement :

"Out of control paparazzi are an increasing threat -- not only to the celebrities they stalk but to the public at large if they happen to get in their way. As long as this reckless behavior remains lucrative, the current laws on the books won't be enough to prevent it. That's why AB 524 goes after the money that spurs reckless paparazzi activity and allows for sanctions against those who knowingly sell or use these ill-gotten images."

The measure still requires a vote by the full Senate.

OK! Looks to Cash In on Michael Jackson Death Cover

OK! Weekly is bracing for some flak over its pick for this week’s cover. While other publications went with feel-good images to commemorate Michael Jackson, OK! chose a grim photo of the dying star being whisked to the hospital June 25.

A knowledgeable source said British parent Northern & Shell paid the equivalent of roughly $500,000 in U.S. dollars for exclusive magazine rights to the photo in the U.S. and U.K.

OK! claims that the photo, which is similar to an image that has appeared on Entertainment Tonight’s Web site, is the last one showing Jackson alive. It plans to use the image in a number of its international editions.

News and entertainment weeklies are counting on huge newsstand sales this week due to the public’s huge interest in the pop phenom’s death. OK! in particular could use the help; its single-copy sales, which provide more than half its 909,884 circulation, have been generally weak this year. (The magazine says that sales have improved in the past few weeks but wouldn’t give out those figures.)

OK! also has been under the harsh spotlight lately over financial losses and continual changes at the masthead.

Sarah Ivens, OK!’s editorial director, said she thought the photo of the dying Jackson would differentiate the title from the rash of tribute-style covers that have begun hitting newsstands this week.

“It’s a photo that captures the surprise and the upset and the moment of this breaking news story,” Ivens said. “I hope the cover will provoke readers. It celebrated the man, but it also does expose that he was an eccentric character who lived a very controversial life.”

Obama tries to have it both ways with media

Press banned from photographing Sasha and Malia at the White House

A free press is all well and good, but not when it comes to the children of President Barack Obama, who has introduced unprecedented rules about which pictures we see of Sasha, eight, and Malia, 10, and which ones we don't.

It was several weeks ago, for instance, when photographers on the White House grounds captured the President waving extravagantly at Sasha standing on the Truman Balcony. Great pictures, to be sure, but the press office instantly requested that news agencies not distribute them.

The Obamas are confronting the same dilemma that faced many first families before them. Nothing endears a nation to its leader more than family snapshots. Even Abraham Lincoln acquiesced to a portrait with his son Tad, eight, at a small table. Few photographs are more beloved than the one of JFK Jr and Caroline playing in the Oval Office. On the other hand, the President and the First Lady want to protect the girls from prying paparazzi.

Thus, all credentialed photographers have been told that the girls are fair game only when they are at formal events. Otherwise, prying lenses should stay away, even when they are on the White House grounds.

To reduce the market for paparazzi shots, the White House puts out photos taken by its own photographer. But these are posted only in low resolution. Editors who want to use them have to ask for a high resolution version and it is up to spokesman Robert Gibbs to grant or deny those requests.

If Mr Obama wants to protect the children from being exploited by a voracious modern-day media, he may find himself treading close to being accused of exploiting them himself, with such a controlled drip-drip of images designed to extract maximum political advantage at the lowest parental cost.

"He's going to try to have it both ways until and unless people start to question his value system and his sincerity in playing that role," notes Gerald Shuster, a political communications expert at the University of Pittsburgh.

The girls, meanwhile, may be discovering the downside of having to stay clear of the paparazzi, having to think twice, for example, before venturing even as far as their climbing frame.

The President whose name is attached to the Truman balcony brought his daughter to Washington, but Margaret Truman loathed the bubble-life she found herself living thanks to her father, Harry, and famously called the executive mansion the Great White Jail.

MADONNA PAPARAZZI

Paparazzi are gathered outside Madonna’s townhouse in a posh section of London, hoping for a glimpse or photo of her new adopted daughter, Mercy.

Mercy is said to be bonding with her new mother before the family flies to New York.

Mercy arrived in London on Friday after an overnight flight from the Malawi orphanage where she had been living.

One June 12th the Malawi Supreme Court allowed the singer to adopt the child after a lower court had ruled Madonna would not be able to adopt her because Madonna wasn’t a resident of the Malawi.

Rights groups have accused the Malawi government of giving preferential treatment to Madonna and say this ruling will encourage other foreigners to try to adopt orphans from the southern African country.

Mercy will join her new sister and two brothers.

David Banda, who’s three, was also adopted from Malawi in 2006

Kodak Shutters Kodachrome

Kodak is discontinuing its storied Kodachrome film line, the company announced today. Introduced in 1935, Kodachrome was the first commercially successful color film, and was immortalized in a Paul Simon song in 1973. But these days it represents less than 1% of Kodak’s film sales, and only one lab in the world—Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas, processes it, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports.

“It was certainly a difficult decision to retire it, given its rich history,” said one Kodak executive. To honor that history, National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry will shoot one of the final rolls, donating the prints to the photography museum named for Kodak founder George Eastman. Any other remaining rolls will also be donated to the museum.

Pete Doherty Makes Comparison Between Paparazzi and Nazi Death Camps

Pete Doherty has recently been touring in the U.K., although his infamous drug use is threatening his career once more. When he’s not being arrested, the former Libertines singer is giving interviews to the BBC, who featured Doherty in a TV show about media intrusion.

Doherty has plenty of experience of this particular topic, particularly from his time as Kate Moss’s eye candy. In fact, it affected poor Pete so badly that is caused him to draw some unwise comparisons between paparazzi photographers and the Nazis on the BBC show.

“It's going to sound really extreme,” he said, in reference to photographers blaming their antics on newspaper demands. “But you know even the people who were like shoveling bodies into gas chambers were saying 'we're just obeying orders.' You've got to accept responsibility for what you do.”

Doherty’s statement is only likely to stoke the flames of his battle with the paparazzi. But with his fame ailing, it’s only a full-blown Libertines reunion or a reconciliation with Kate Moss that would really restore the level of fame he so desperately craves. Why else would he be making such inflammatory please-look-at-me statements?

The hunted become the hunters: Celebs vs. paparazzi

HOLLYWOOD (Herald de Paris) - Paparazzi. Sometimes, they’re good for buzz, for PR, and for publicity. Other times, they’re downright annoying.

Make that most of the time.

Scores of celebrities are hounded while they try to go about their daily lives, buy groceries, or take their kids to the park. When the more unscrupulous paparazzi cross the line, climb trees, hide in your trash can, or scare your kids, there’s only one thing to do: FIGHT BACK.

We here at L’Herald de Paris have a lot of celebrated friends. We hear often how annoying the paparazzi can be. Therefore, we’re going to give anyone in the public eye the opportunity to level the playing field.

When the paparazzi just will not leave you alone, pull out your mobile phone and snap their photo right back.

Seriously.

Send it to us with the date, time, and location, and we’ll publish it.

Let’s show everyone the faces of disrespectful photo journalism, and see how much THEY like having their unwilling photos published.

Hugh Grant kicks a paparazzi out of his way

Brit actor Hugh Grant has landed in yet another row with the paparazzi, and this time he lashed out at a photographer with his foot during a night out in New York.

Grant, 48, was on his way to a restaurant in the Big Apple on June 10 when he took offence at the snappers outside the venue, and as he made his way to another nightspot, he was caught on camera warning the photogs to “back off”.

The actor is said to have become so agitated by the photographers’ persistence that he reportedly kicked one in the groin. “That wasn’t cool. What the f**k is your problem? I was trying to be a nice guy. I was trying to help you find a cab,” the Daily Star quoted the unlucky snapper as shouting.

Council to examine protecting children from paparazzi

A circus-like atmosphere began unfolding at the First Presbyterian Nursery School, the source of chaos coming not from crying children, but rather a group of two dozen photographers snapping away from behind a fence.

They hooked their cameras into the fence, some even climbing up the divider erected between the playground and the alley where they stood, all to capture photos of a few celebrity parents with their children.

Such is a description of the scene according to Councilman Richard Bloom who recently visited the nursery school after receiving letters from more than 30 parents complaining about the nuisance caused by the paparazzi. During tonight's City Council meeting, Bloom and Mayor Pro Tem Pam O'Connor plan to ask staff to investigate "intrusive and invasive activities" of paparazzi photographers and videographers in areas where children gather, returning with recommended regulations to protect their privacy.

"Celebrities may not like it but they get that this is something they have to accept and live with … ," Bloom said. "I think there are limits as to what somebody should have to experience in this situation, but for the parents and children of the school, it's a very intolerable situation."

Among the celebrities who reportedly have children enrolled in First Presbyterian are Jennifer Garner and Meg Ryan, both of whom have been photographed at the school and displayed on various celebrity gossip Web sites.

Bloom said he was contacted by parents of the school several months ago about the ongoing issue of the paparazzi. During the visit, the councilman said he witnessed photographers blocking the alley and the entryway to the school.

"Inside the school, there were parents who felt trapped," he said.

In the letters parents talk about the problems experienced with the photographers, at least one even claiming that their family has been verbally assaulted.

The parents said that the paparazzi have also increased congestion on the street, taking up parking spaces and driving recklessly. One parent observed a photographer standing on top of a car and taking pictures over the fence. Another parent said the crowd of photographers also attracts people passing by, adding to the already congested environment. Parents also said the scene can be frightening to their children.

"Our families deserve the opportunity to give our children a safe place to learn and grow," one parent wrote.

In a letter to Bloom, Mary Hartzell, the director of the nursery school, said that church staff have asked the photographers to temper their actions, only to be met with insults.

She added that though the school has had famous parents over the years, the situation it experiences today is one it has never faced before.

"The school has always been a place that welcomes diversity and we have families from different economic, racial, social and religious backgrounds," she wrote.

Hartzell could not be reached for comment.

Bloom said he envisions regulations that would establish a reasonable distance that photographers should have to maintain.

"It has reached the point at this particular school where these folks feel strongly enough about it to contact a council member and ask if something could be done," he said.

Francois Navarre, the owner of Beverly Hills-based X17online, an agency dedicated to celebrity photography, said that there are plenty of rules in place right now that restrict photographers, including one that prohibits them from parking in an alley.

"The police always find a reason to push away photographers," Navarre said. "They say we're disturbing the traffic and disturbing this and that."

He added that more laws could raise issues for his agency.

"Any specific regulations against the paparazzi is very dangerous for me because the difference between paparazzi and journalist is so ambiguous," he said.