Papparazzis: Godsent or Menace?

Ssembonge raises a very interesting point in his comment on this post. That papparazzis should be outlawed. It has been interesting seeing the papparazzi phenomenon, first as an independent observer, and then as a photographer myself.

The first time I got to know of them was at a wedding I attended during one of my trips back home while I was still based in the US. It fascinated me that I could buy prints taken of me at the same event only hours after the fact. I never did buy any, however. But the thought that I could had I wanted intrigued me.

After I took up photography seriously, I got to see papparazzis in another light. One that was not as favourable as before. It felt like they got in the way of properly carrying out my work at events where I was hired as the main photographer. But then I managed to get around that by being more assertive. So for now it is no longer a problem for me. Once I have made known to the relevant people that I am the main photographer, it's easy from there on. During group shots, I tell them to look just at my camera, ignoring all others. It doesn't always work, but for the most part it does.

The reason above is why I find it very hard to cover an event where I am not the main photographer, even though I may have been asked by the main people at the event to help out. I did a wedding two weeks ago as a favour for a friend. Though everyone had been alerted to my presence, I still did not feel 100% at ease. I made sure to talk to the main photographers and alert them that I had been asked to help out so they wouldn't think me as an unwelcome outsider.

When it comes to the issue of whether papparazzis should be allowed to do their thing or not, I find that there are mixed feelings among people. There are those like Ssembonge who would rather they don't exist. I have covered weddings where they even had security to ensure said papparazzis were not even allowed into the venue. At one wedding I covered, my brother was helping me out with a second camera. Since the bride hadn't met him yet, she thought that he was a papparazzi and asked me about him. I told her he was with me, and that calmed her down. But one other guy that was there unkown to either of us was promptly shown the door.

At yesterday's funeral, I got to see some guests who were walking in give any papparazzi that tried to take their photo a warning glance. Clearly they did not want their photos taken. At the start of the day at the funeral home, I was taking pictures when one of the family members looked at me badly and said she hoped I was not a papparazzi since she wouldn't buy any of my pictures. Were this not a funeral, I would have found that very funny, since my photography style is anything but!

And then there are those that welcome papparazzis with open arms. I did one wedding where at the express wish of the groom several papparazzis were called upon and asked to help cover the event, complete with selling the photos during the reception. There were about 5 of them, in addtion to myself and the other official photographer. I also have a wedding coming up where the groom's side of the family wants papparazzis present to assist.

And this is not limited to just low budget weddings. I was told of this high profile wedding with a very big budget where the family wanted the photographer selected to do some papparazzi style photography in addition to what he was offering as the main package. This photographer doesn't do that. But because his doing it would determine he gets the contract, he just had to.

So, are papparazzis a menace, or a necessity? It depends on who you ask. For now, for as long as there are those that want their services, they are here to stay. If you outlaw them, those that want them will be up in arms. So I guess the best thing is to just work things out such that you can have them not barge in on your event if you don't want them. That, or just let them be. I don't know. Personally, I have learned to live with them. What is your take?