Ron Galella

“If someone says 'no photos!' then I try not to take any more. However, before he says that I take as many as I can. That’s the game.” Ron Galella

A paparazzo hunt is cunning, harsh and frequently ends painfully. In the worst case bloodily—including broken jaws and lost teeth. For Ron Galella and his undercover activities, no effort or risk was too great. He proceeded like a detective in order to catch the celebrities in the right moment, patient, persistent, shifty. Whether it was Jacqueline Kennedy, Marlon Brando, Greta Garbo, Andy Warhol, Sean Penn, Robert Redford, Muhammad Ali, Madonna, Mick Jagger or Audrey Hepburn—he managed to get them all in front of his lens. His pictures are snapshots rather than portraits. Spontaneous, not staged, and as a result extremely authentic.

Ron Galella is a pioneer of Paparazzi photography. As opposed to the other representatives of his profession, the stars look good in his photos. Regardless of this, he is interested in their mysterious side, behind the pose and makeup. What is hidden behind their glamorous lives? What are these people like close-up? Who are they? In fact his photographs do provide answers: the celebrities are nothing special. Anyone can be a star because it is only the media that creates icons, beauty and immortality with their images. With the immediacy of his Paparazzi photographs, Ron Galella creates carefully composed images and at the same time provides new material to feed the constant craving for sensationalism by the press.