Monday, June 7, 2010

Artist? Annoyance? Star-Maker? Stalker?

He's been called all of those names and much worse. Ron Galella, legendary American paparazzo, has suffered two highly-publicized legal battles with the late Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, a broken jaw at the hands of the late Marlon Brando, Mexican jails and a serious ass-whopping by bodyguards of the late Richard Burton.


Love him or hate him, Galella always gets his shot. He's driven, unflinching and still working after nearly fifty years of a career filled with controversy and amazing image making. His celebrity "photojournalism" has appeared over the years in the pages of Time, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Vanity Fair, People, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, New York Times & Life. 


Galella is also a master in the darkroom, producing his own prints in a home lab that have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, London's Tate Modern and the Helmut Newton Foundation to name just a few. With six books to his credit, Ron shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon


Tonight, HBO will air the documentary Smash His Camera at 9pm EST/8Pm Central (check your local listings for exact air times in your area). 


You can find a couple of clips from the film included below.


It was only last month that Galella was the victim of his own pioneering "example" when New York based Photographer/Blogger Andrew Hetherington of What's the Jackanory blog fame was assigned by AARP to turn-the-tables on Ron for a feature profile in their membership magazine. Andrew was sent out to capture paparazzi style photos of the legendary Galella to illustrate the story. You can read about the adventure at WTJ? found here.


Tune in tonight to catch Ron in action and decide for yourself... artist or pariah?. In the meantime, here's a trailer & a clip from the film:







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