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Katharina Dohm: It’s more about the aesthetic of paparazzi photography and the relationship between photographer and subject. We focus on the perspective of the paparazzi. It’s a social and cultural view on the phenomena. It’s the first time the history of paparazzi photography is being shown. It’s a relationship full of aggression. What can you call paparazzi photography? Flash. Not sharp. Now, even drones change the whole possibility. We started with asking what is paparazzi photography.
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A lot of the celebrities are women and a lot of the paparazzi are men, it’s like men chasing women. Aggression is a part of it. We chose six women, among them, Paris Hilton, Bridget Bardot, and Britney Spears. The photos show they have no privacy. Jackie Kennedy had many lawsuits against Ron Galella to keep him away from her family.

They represent the type of subject that responds to the camera. Paris Hilton is from a first wave of celebrities without a profession who has used the paparazzi for her own success and fame. We have one picture of her by photographer Nick Ut, who caught Paris crying in a car after a court case. We have Britney on her way out of a car without wearing a slip underneath, tacky shots. War photographers are heroic, paparazzi photographers are the enemy. They’re like small animals, lurking around. Back in 2000, it was lucrative to be a photographer. The job is not still lucrative as it once was.Is paparazzi art or immorality?
I don’t think paparazzo is an art form but some of the photos have become part of our image bank. They’re important and they have an influence on artists, like Gerhard Richter, Cindy Sherman, and Andy Warhol. Paparazzi photography gives new ways of expressing actual problems.

There is one of Bridget Bardot, which is really nice but we can’t use it to promote the show. It’s really difficult to get the rights for the paparazzi photos because of the agencies and the stars. Bridget Bardot doesn’t allow any of the photos to be used. It’s one of the best photos; she is in a bikini at the beach waiting for her husband at the time, Gunter Sachs, to arrive. He just got out of a river and is smoking. It’s so cool but we can’t show it.
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It’s really strange. There is one by Ron Galella called Wind Blown Jackie. It’s his Mona Lisa and it’s really a beautiful picture. That’s the paparazzi stars.Sometimes the paparazzi go too far. When photographers Pascal Rostain and Bruno Mouron went through Madonna’s garbage, is it too much?
Rstain and Mouron are the paparazzi photographers who take the garbage of celebrities and put it neatly on a table, like a museum. They’re over-exposing the trash like relics of someone, as if it shows a history about this person. They even found the garbage of Jeff Koons, who is considered a “celebrity” to them. Madonna drinks a lot of water. It’s just normal. It takes them down to earth again.

It’s still the same. We have photos by Sabastien Valiela who took the photos of the French president Françoise Hollande, who led a second life. The paparazzi photographers say one of the most important things to do is wait. Then it’s the information, the worst thing that can happen is that the information they’re gathering is not accurate. It hasn’t changed much.What's the signature paparazzi photograph?
In a lot of photos, there is the hand in front of the face. It’s a very typical paparazzi composition, one could say. A hand over the lens is a typical reaction from people who don’t want to be photographed.We have photos showing the strategies behind photographers: One photographer jumps and the stars react, while the other paparazzo gets the shot. Paparazzi photographers work together.Some use charm, right?
Of course, there has been the quote of one photographer, Jean Pigozzi: “I’m just a friend of all those celebs.”Follow Nadja Sayej on Twitter.
