HEAR YE HEAR YE! Friends, Royals, celebrities, public at large: I am not now or never have been a paparazzi photographer, nor will I ever photograph a celebrity, a person of royal status or anyone related to famous persons without having been commissioned to do so.
During my visit to Venice, clad in my black trench coat with both my Canon 5D and my video camera around my neck, lost in a remote and non-tourist zone from taking the wrong water taxi, someone mistook me for a member of the paparazzi force. I must admit I looked rather like one of these intrusive vultures, but I was in fact just a spirit on a sojourn, an adventurer on a quest for self expansion. I just happen to love viewing aspects of the world around me through the lens. In my GALLERIES on my website, you will see Venice as I have seen it. Had I not had my Canon with me, I'd not have gotten to share with you that amazing boat fire! Photographing that scene was most exhilarating!
SOUND SILLY? Maybe it does. But I'm making an official statement. Photographers get a bad rap thanks to those invasive bastards who work for the media that have interest only in making money, cultivating not a sense of integrity about themselves or their 'work'.
I boycott the purchase of any paparazzi based publications. People that have offered their gifts for the public's demand to be entertained should not have their private lives invaded. The public, hungry for satisfaction of their voyeuristic nature and the complying media moguls who have made millions on this deviant appetite, have gone over any boundary of respect as they wish to peer into every detail of their favorite public figure's life, inventing far flung untruths to go with a photo they stole of their victim in an awkward moment of let's say, right after a sneeze.
If the public figure has personal life issues, the paparazzi will distort photos or publish photos stolen in a moment where they can match a false headline to perpetuate a drama, say, if the sun is in the 'victim's' eyes and they are frowning. That frown will be on the front pages with words touting their unhappiness with their cheating spouse when the sun was merely in their eyes and their spouse isn't cheating at all. The public eats this shit like an entree as if they were starving. Their soul is actually starving, and they think this is the food they need: "entertainment by distraction at another person's expense" ~ but the hunger they have is for expansion of their own soul, and the nourishment for that is never at the expense of another. Has anyone considered the effect on the children of these celebrities having swarms of paparazzi round them wherever they go since they are born? Although materially wealthy, these children are starving to just get to be kids walking around with their parents (who happen to be celebrities). The paparazzi has proven they will kill their subject with their invasive habits to 'get the shot'....and we all know who I'm talking about.
I am a fine arts photographer, and sometimes my photos include people. As an artist first, born with 'the eye' - what I see every day is art, with or without my camera. This is a gift that I can market and make money with, but mostly I choose to just enjoy it privately. As I paint, draw, write, design gardens, create songs, play music, and assist in the raising of children (now grandchildren are my little works in progress) - every aspect of my life is an art form in one way or another. Oh, did I leave out the training of my dawg? Living with and training & grooming a standard poodle (or any breed) is TRULY an art form!
I get to live with the enjoyment of this gift of seeing, even when my life is presented with dramatic and/or uncomfortable life events (for what life is without these?) - My emotions and how I navigate through these phases and events is the art of "life in action". My existence contains myriad canvases, and upon them are many colors, shapes, textures and vibrations, and they depict a beautiful life, hanging in the gallery of my experience.
I am also blessed to have in the gallery of my life the art form of "TEXT", as I have kept journals chronicling my entire life.....and have two self published books, as you know, one being from the compilation of several journals that documented an experience that would have been impossible to recall from memory with the intent to write it. I had no intention to make public this private, multidimensional experience and be judged by family, friends & people I'll never meet, as CRAZY. How folks love to throw that word around to label something that is outside their box of limited understanding and beliefs.
I delight in having my life be lived outside the boxes that represent conformity and attempts to fit in and be accepted by mainstream society. I have withstood many crucifixions from living this experience fully. I have also experienced as many resurrections, and all of them have been glorious.
That said, my life today is extraordinary, colorful and amazing, and the development of my next two books are in progress.....it's like growing twins in the womb, they both must be developed at the same time as their fertilization moment has sparked simultaneously. I take delight and share my delight with whoever wishes to peek into my life through the website I have created with my genius webmaster friend, Sir Robert Spencer. We have not worked together in a while, and are embarking on projects in his studio this week....we shall see what golden nuggets emerge from our collective energies of creativity. Stay tuned......
