Paparazzi: Photographers Who Stalk Celebrities

Lindsay Lohan drives her new Mercedes into another car in an alleged attempt to flee from paparazzi. Britney Spears drives with her five month old son on her lap, sans seat belt or car seat, and claims the paparazzi made her do it. Scarlett Johansson, running from the paparazzi, has a minor car crash in the parking lot at Disneyland. Celebrities and tabloid photographers (a/k/a paparazzi) have a love/hate relationship - celebs need these photographers in order to insure they are prominently seen and yet celebs balk at the stalking of these camera toting men and women. Paparazzi make their livelihood by capturing photographs of famous people in candid moments. Photos of Paris Hilton cavorting with her new beau can sell for large amounts of money to tabloids. 

The public's obsession with these celebrity gossip magazines has caused the paparazzi to use extreme and sometimes dangerous methods to obtain their shots. In order to get their photos, paparazzi will wait in back alleys, public streets and areas for a star to appear. While stars may complain about paparazzi, they are considered public figures who have ‘voluntarily achieved fame or notoriety' and thus have fewer privacy rights that an ordinary person. Most paparazzi have a large network of informants, including hair stylists, waiters, sales people and driving attendants who are paid to relate info about stars.

After the 1997 death of Princess Diana when her car crashed during a high speed chase by paparazzi in Paris, celebrities and the public expressed their frustration and fear over the extreme tactics used by tabloid photographers. Police believed that the pursuit by seven photographers of Diana and boyfriend contributed to the crash and subsequent deaths. Celebrities and public figures across the world expressed their outrage and concern at the increasingly outrageous methods that paparazzi engage in.