Paparazzi & Celebrity Culture
A Short History of the Paparazzi
The word paparazzi comes from a character named Paparazzo, a news photographer in Federico Fellini's 1960 film La Dolce Vita. The name stuck as shorthand for photographers who chase public figures.
From a film character to a job title
Fellini's Paparazzo was based on real Rome street photographers of the 1950s. Within a few years the plural was being used, in several languages, for the whole profession.
Why the look is so consistent
The visual signature — hard direct flash, a slightly off-guard subject, a busy background — comes from the working conditions: shooting fast, at night, in a crowd, with a flash mounted on the camera.
Why it became aspirational
Being photographed by the paparazzi signals that you are worth photographing. That is why a staged version of the look is fun — it borrows the signal without the intrusion.
Get caught by the paparazzi
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