The power of the paparazzi

Most of us know the drill with the paparazzi. These people are taking photos of celebrities and sell them
for different prices to different magazines, especially tabloids. But what are the ups and downs of being a
paparazzo?
First of all, one of the advantages of being a paparazzo is, the high salary. It is known that this job gives
you more than a modest salary, only to take unwanted or wanted photos of the trendiest celebrities from
Hollywood. However, it depends. Taking photos of Johnny Depp, for example, can make a paparazzo earn
$500,000 yearly. But taking photos of, let’s say, Kristen Stewart, cannot always give a paparazzo a good amount of
money. But sometimes it is important what are the gestures and what are the celebrities doing that gives the
money to the paparazzo, not only the photo itself. Usually, a photo with a celebrity carrying its child or kissing
someone is more expensive than a photo with an artist being dressed casually going to a grocery store or drinking
a coffee at a cafe.
Second of all, it’s about the feeling that you might get caught that makes a paparazzo want to be one.
Sometimes they take this to the extremes, waiting probably days to take a good shot of a celebrity or maybe even
risking their own lives just to take a glimpse of theirs. Also, the feeling of being a hunter and the celebrity being
your prey. If you ask a paparazzo, it would tell you that the waiting or risking their life is more exciting that taking
the photo. Of course, there are days when they feel exhausted, when the waiting is too unbearable and the money
is the only thing that motivates them, but there are rare cases of such thing. “When you get someone in the
viewfinder it is the most exhilarating experience you can imagine”, says Jean Claude Ratteuil.
Third of all, one advantage a paparazzo gives to the people, especially to the teenage girls, is that they
shot celebrities outside their movies, fashion shows, ads and so on, when they look more normal and have a
normal life like the girls who are driven by their beauty standards. A paparazzo, taking a photo of a celebrity
without wearing make-up and with a few more pounds (who looks beautiful while wearing make-up or even with
their body photoshopped) can save a teenage girl’s life from starving herself to look like their idol or to wear
unnecessary make-up. Sometimes, being a paparazzo can be a good thing for people, but only on specific cases.
That being said about the ups of a paparazzo, here are the downs of it.
One reason is violating the privacy of the celebrities. Sometimes, people and even the paparazzi forget
that a celebrity is nothing more but a human just like them, only that their job is admired by thousands of people
around the world. A paparazzo would do anything to have the best photo and to start a spicy rumour about an
artist, so they shot even the most private things of a famous person’s life. For example, when they change their
clothes or have a mental breakdown or simply vacuuming and singing at the same time. There is nothing spicy
about singing and vacuuming, but the paparazzi still want to know this detail about them.
A second reason is that a paparazzo gets so involved with what he is doing, that sometimes forgets that is
only a job, not a lifestyle. For example, they used to have even diving equipment, underwater cameras, portable
telephones and even a motorbike, always ready for the perfect shot, just like a spy ready for its target, which is
something that is taken way too seriously by the paparazzis. They put themselves in a really big danger, like Ron
Galella who started wearing an American football helmet after he got his jaw broken by Marlon Brando.
A third reason might be the fact that if you get caught and sued by a celebrity, chances to lose and end
your career are pretty big. For example, there are alot of cases where unskilled paparazzis or even good ones got
caught and they and the magazine they were working for were sued and had to pay the celebrities the price they
demanded and it never was a little one. So, if you still want to be a paparazzo, you always have to be vigilent and
as hidden as possible, otherwise your career will be gone.
In conclusion, working in this industry has both advantages and disavantages, and it is up to them and
their need of knowing more and more about the private life of Hollywood’s celebrities.