Paparazzi - your views?

[ding76uk]

Nicely put.
One taken which adds to the wealth of our diverse culture. The other driven by an artless consumer market.

Surely Pap photography is a lot more relevant to out celeb driven culture from a historical standpoint than another shot of people kissing (no offence Fabs) that offers no social commentary and is a reshoot of a classic photo from a previous era?

There is no difference in street and pap photography, just that pap are sometimes in your face about it than street photographers, although not always.

Those who say there is a difference, what about this situation. You work for a mag, they want to do a feature on Street photography and have asked you to get some photos for it. Surely you are just papping members of the public?

If you get down to the bolts of it the definition (they vary of course) is

Paparazzi /pɑːpəˈrɑːtsi/ (singular: (m) Paparazzo Italian: [papaˈɾattso] or (f) Paparazza) is an Italian term used to refer to photojournalists who specialize in candid photography of celebrities, politicians, and other prominent people. Paparazzi tend to be independent contractors, unaffiliated with a mainstream media organization.[1]


Street photography is the same thing. Getting paid is irrelevant.

What would you class this guy as? Street photographer, same thing as paps, some give a lot a bad name.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRBARi09je8&feature=related

 

[Starastin]

found documentary in utube . quite interesting.

 

[Forbiddenbiker]

Surely Pap photography is a lot more relevant to out celeb driven culture from a historical standpoint than another shot of people kissing (no offence Fabs) that offers no social commentary and is a reshoot of a classic photo from a previous era?

...

Street photography is the same thing. Getting paid is irrelevant.

What would you class this guy as? Street photographer, same thing as paps, some give a lot a bad name.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRBARi09je8&feature=related

So you want me to compare all pap photography to Fabs shot?..You may have meant all paps shots against all street photography …which is a whole different outcome right?.

I can see what your getting at, but a hundred years form now is anyone going to care about most celeb shots, They’ll be asking why so many shots of the same nobody! In just the last decade think how many celeb shots are now filed, forgotten and worthless. The demand for excess produces little but sprawling repetition, which adds nothing to our culture but affirmation of what we’ve already seen and knew.

I don't know, however theres also a definition for steet photography,they vary also. ...But yes getting paid is irrelevant in our context, but the intent and motive for the photography are not the same, only similar. Inevitably street photography does provide a diverse and exemplary insight into our passed, where celeb photography is but a thin overweight slice of that record.... isn't it?

As with all things extremes exist, that guy is overly rude, but he is adding a unique perspective to his culture. If his record never existed? would the world have missed something intrinsically interesting.

 

[CaptainPenguin]

So

I can see what your getting at, but a hundred years form now is anyone going to care about most celeb shots, They’ll be asking why so many shots of the same nobody!

.

I am afraid that they are in the same way a technically classic "Street Photograph" from the 40's or 50's (Bert Hardy etc) are social commentary classics and worth a few quid pail into insignificance alongside what a PAP style shot of Garland.Munroe etc etc is worth

 

[Forbiddenbiker]

I did say Most ...

I can see what your getting at, but a hundred years form now is anyone going to care about most celeb shots, .

edit. sorry quickly put that up as I knew my browser was going to crash.


On the point of worth though, which I mentioned but didn't intend to be a main point. Are we to rate an images cultural value by its selling cost? Are you going to argue that pap photography is more acceptable culturally because individually some of the images are worth huge sums?

 

[stormienam]

So you want to be a Pap?

Speaking as someone who worked in TV news for many years, try this:

Wait until it is raining, then go and stand in your garden for ten hours, in the rain and with no toilet breaks and.......just wait. If you can't do this, then you can't do the job, trust me on this one.

And trust me from my own experience that is a good day :shake:

Windy, super cold nights, Rain, Snow, drunks abusing you, the constant who's in there' , 'get a real job' and the fateful 'take my picture i'm famous' then you have druggies trying to rob your kit in soho, bouncers of clubs thinking they are special forces protection for the 'celeb' and then the other 40 paps all fighting for the same picture which will make you at best £30-£40 if you are lucky after your cut from the agencies cut.

Celebs like paps when it's on their terms they are all matey with you etc but then if they are caught doing something they know they shouldn't be doing it's all our 'the paps' fault, (Yes we made you kiss that girl when you have a partner? or made you take those drugs? drive while drunk? the list is endless) if you don't want to be a story don't make yourself a story, there are tons of celebs who no one reads about because they do not going clubbing to the celeb hot spots or make a show of themselves while on a day out, if you know paps are going to be at a club or place as they are there EVERY DAY/NIGHT then go somewhere where they won't be, they go there because the LOVE the EGO BOOST it gives them.

One time there was money in it, unfortunately that time has passed & as a friend put it there are no more pearls just fish eyes left.

I only dabble in it now for something big & to catch up with friends, last big thing was kate moss wedding, other than that I'm done with it, the long 14 to sometime 24 hour night/days and not seeing my family are over, 8 month old baby made me change my life completely & I much prefer my new venture of studio work happy people enjoying their pictures being taken