F-Stop Journal

The Paparazzi

The one aspect of photography that relies on digital SLR cameras as much as any are the paparazzi. Equally know for being scum, the world has become used to seeing candid pictures of celebrities, politicians and almost anyone of any prominence.

The term paparazzi actually originated from a Frederico Fellini film called La Dolce Vita. In it a character named Paparazzo was a news photographer who was annoying. The term stuck and today anyone called a paparazzi is equally loathed and admired for tenacity. So dogged are these types of photographers that many countries even have laws that try to regulate their sneaky activities. They are known to go to almost any length to get shots of well-known people that there have been any number of incidents – some tragic like the death of Princess Diana – involving them. Any celebrity who doesnt keep their curtains drawn tight and who ever go out in public have been subjected to hoards of paparazzi depending on their celebrity status. Long lenses and the ability to instantly send images back to the home office have only increased how competitive paparazzi type photographers can be. A photograph taken of a star can be online and being viewed in a matter of minutes due to current technology.

In some ways, paparazzi are just people trying to make a living who also know how to use the technology available to them in the fastest possible way. A photograph of a reclusive yet popular celebrity can bring hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it seems to be worth physical fights and court injunctions to keep making them. If one counted up just the photographs taken of Suri Cruise since her birth, they would likely number in the millions. digital photography