Who Wants a Collection
of Celebrity Photos?

by Sandy Miller

This is the age of celebrities. Many people are obsessed with celebrities and consistently consume newspaper and magazine images of them. I recall one community event I was helping out with when a young woman called us and was willing to do anything just for the chance to meet Huey Lewis. She loved his song, The Power of Love, and whenever we spoke to her on the phone, she had his music on in the background.

This woman had followed him around the country and spent a significant portion of her money on being in his presence. In a way, it seemed amazing to us that she did this. She volunteered to help us out just to be close to him and her dream was to get a photo of herself standing next to Huey Lewis. She had all the regular celebrity photos of him that all his other fans had and wanted a fresh new one, one more personal.

The celebrity photo business is big business and photographers can make a lot of money when they snap one. The paparazzi wait for hours on end outside nightclubs, to get a picture of someone famous coming out drunk or the worse for wear. Some of these snappers are quite shameless and deliberately provoke the celebrity into reacting aggressively. They know what it will take to make a photo that a picture editor will want and pay big money for. Some will stalk a celebrity until they get the image they want. The media builds them up and then tries to knock them down again. Sitting up in trees with a long lens to shoot a celebrity photo seems to be a strange way to make a living.

How Many Deaths Are Vaused by Paparazzi?

As you are probably aware, a great deal of soul searching went on when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris. Although the photographers who had been chasing her on that tragic night were officially cleared of any blame, a lot of people thought that they had played a significant part in the events of that night. The driver was speeding through the tunnel, having been followed at speed by photographers keen to get the ultimate celebrity photo of Princess Diana and her boyfriend Dodi.

It has been reported that some photographers took photos of Diana after the crash and before the emergency services arrived. It is common practice for the paparazzi to chase celebrities through traffic and a similar incident will probably happen again.

Photo Snapping Started with the Silver Screen

Of course, it is not just the paparazzi that snap the celebrity photos. There is a long tradition, from the days of silent screen star Valentino, to publicize celebrities with a photo shoot. Many photographers have gained a reputation from their celebrity photos and some photos have passed into legend status.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the movie studios wanted their glamorous stars to pout for the camera in gorgeous dresses. Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich and Judy Garland posed for the magazine covers like Hollywood royalty. More informal photographs came in from the 1950s, leaving us with some wonderful moments. No one knew how legendary James Dean would become when he was captured walking down the streets of New York, hunched up against the rain.

Celebrity Photos are More than Just a Moment in Time

Sometimes, a photograph can become similar to an historical document. One such celebrity photo is the one taken of John Lennon and Yoko Ono that shows an unclothed Lennon in a fetus position, lying beside Ono. This photograph was taken on the day of Lennon was murdered and is very poignant to look at now. The celebrity photo is always with us to stay, whether the celebrity is a willing participant or the hunted quarry of the paparazzi.

How to Get Celebrity Photos

By the way, did you know that you can get celebrity photos through the celebrity fan clubs? Simply look them up on the internet and search for official celebrity photos on the celebrity fan club site. The fan club makes money from the photos and want you to purchase them. Sometimes they are already autographed. You can send the photo in an envelope to the celebrity, asking them to personally sign the photo as well. Generally, wthin a few months, it should be returned to you, signed.