Jessica Dimmock "Paparazzi !"

Years ago, I tried event photography for one of the many photography agencies that cover celebrity events. They would call me and send me to a location. I would either put my name on the list when I get there or just look for the agency name on a piece of paper where we are to stay. It sort of is like paparazzi except we're "official". I quickly got bored. I don't have much of a memory of who celebrity people are (I kept asking the other photographers who that person was) and actually started becoming more interested in the photographers themselves. They seem to inhabit a strange world where celebrity names and hot spots were thrown around pretty quickly. I get a feeling there's a real thin line between being a paparazzi and being an agency event photographer. After a month of going to book signing, parties and charity events, I quit. This world wasn't for me.

Today while digging around the web, I found out Jessica Dimmock who in the past documented addicts in The Ninth Floor has done her next project on paparazzi photographers here in Los Angeles.





Paparazzi ! explores the ghoulish fascination with images of celebrities and looks at the hunter/prey relationship between photographer and Hollywood star. As newspapers across the country go under and editorial magazines grow thinner, celebrity magazines are amongst the few forms of print media making any profit. Thus the story of the paparazzi also tells the story of the current state of American culture.

The modern paparazzi - young, male, aggressive, often foreign - must go to increasingly dramatic lengths to get their images. High speed car chases, trespassing, tipping informants and secret alliances are all regular parts of the business.


Check over at VII to see the rest of the series.