Guilty Pleasure ? Art Form ? Or strictly business ?
Hmmmmm….. let those whose are without sin caste the first stone..or photograph.
C’mon there is a certain guilty pleasure in the latest celebrity photo IF there is a unique quality or story line attached.
STORY LINE ???????
[photopress:brad1.jpg,full,centered] Brad Elterman discussing one of his iconic images of Muhammad Ali
Yep, that is the mission statement apparently behind BuzzFoto agency which caters primarily to the business of paparazzo.
Now the founders come from 2 generations of the breed. (no offense meant).
[photopress:jacksonB.jpg,full,centered]
Photo by Brad Elterman/BuzzFoto.com
Brad Elterman came to the profession in a time that was bit simpler. His photographs of rockers and celebrity events were made in a less guarded time. When he took a photo of Michael Jackson after the Grammy’s, 2 photogs were there as opposed to the 50+ that would be there today. His professional/personal relationships with the celebrities and the world that they inhabited allowed him to create revealing and almost documentary images.
His partner, Henry Flores, comes into this business with a more modern viewpoint. It’s a business and the market requires images that it wants when the public is hungry for them. And not before.
Nor much after.
At a talk tonight at the APPLE Store in Soho, these two brought a slide show of photographs from both worlds. But the both intersect into one: that of commerce.
A question from the audience came up with the inevitable morales clause. ” Don’t you feel guilty about the invasion of privacy ?” . Quite the opposite.
“Tell Mike it was only business. I always liked him…” Tessio to Tom O’Hagan.
This is a business and each side feeds the other, to paraphrase Mr. Flores. If the celebrities didn’t want to be photographed, there are numerous ways to avoid it. Actually many of the celebrities set the stage, so to speak, for the ” caught in the act of living life” photos we are all familiar with.
I guess its really a circle. And not a new one either.
If the public didn’t want to know about the real truth about well known people, there would be no market for their photographs. But there is.Check out the newsstand. Or turn on the TV. Someone has to feed that beast. And someone is sitting at the dinner table ready to eat it all up.
Take a look at the site. Read about their business. And remember that we are all eating what the Rock’s been cooking. And by Rock ,I mean the paparazzi.
Enjoy the images when you think it’s right. Deride them when they step over your personal line. But they make a living because you want them to. Truly.
And keep your camera with you at all times. You never know who’ll you’ll see.
Cheers!
Damon Webster
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