Paparazzi

Among all the countries I have been most fortunate to visit Italy with its zest for life has always been special for me.  For example, Italy is a repository for the greatest works of art you can see. Were it permissible how wonderful it would be to spend days, months even, gazing at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Every city, town and small village has intriguing alleyways with family-owned cafes with their rich aromas of coffee pasta dishes and regional wines. I could continue about their music and their craftsmanship of producing the world’s finest violins. However, I digress. In the sixties, the word paparazzi emerged possibly resulting from Frederico Fellini’s film ‘La Dolce Vita’ which revealed the comings and goings of the celebrities of the time,  by the paparazzi, a determined group of photographers whose aim was to photograph the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardiner and Sophia Loren to name but a few.

Celebrities came to dislike the paparazzi seeing them as a ravenous wolf pack producing what they referred to as ‘second class images.’ The real reason for this opinion was that they objected to the fact that they had no control over paparazzi photographs which were far from the glamorous way they wished to see themselves portrayed. The rich and famous wanted the world to see them as the perfect ‘gods and goddesses’. In other words immortal creatures of perfection.  On the other hand, celebrities craved the limelight, but on their terms.

Personally, I admired the  ‘paps’ as they come to be called. The paparazzi had the uncanny knack of uncovering the truth about people who inhabited the glitzy world of ‘show-biz’ and those who held positions of power and influence. Some made a great deal of money from their photographs and resourcefulness in securing them. For example, the Italian photographer who secured the historical photographs of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed on a private yacht in the Mediterranean is reported to have made a small fortune from the sale of his pictures.  However, the question arises, did the couple reveal their whereabouts for their own political advantage?  We will never know!

Sadly, the days are over of both the paparazzi and the world of press freedom and expression. Once, great newspaper titles would be delighted to pay large sums of money for a set of ‘pap’ photographs. Now, they are prepared to publish manicured images supplied by the great and the good. In some cases, one could speculate that there is a tame professional photographer guiding them.

The paparazzi, once feared by the ‘ritzi’ are but memories of photographic freedom.

Nikon and Leica Cameras were popular with Paparazzi.  Above, a Nikon F Photomic camera complete with a Nikkor 50mm F1.4 lens.