I wanna reach for the stars.... FAME!

Above illustration done in Freehand and Photoshop, and inspired by the paparazzi article in this week's 8 days.

I wrote up a kinda summary on the paparazzi article in 8 days, so scroll down if you wanna read it... If not... *sulk* oh well... look out for another piece of crap another day then...

This week's 8 Days issue [look out for Kym Ng on the cover] has a pretty interesting report entitled "Confessions of a Paparazzo", where they interview a real paparazzo on the life of these snooping, stalking photographers.

Basically, paparazzi are photographers who stalk celebrities exclusively for photographs to sell to the tabloids. [no nature or potrait shots for them] The business is a whole industry by itself in Hollywood, with over 100s of paparazzi stalking celebrities' homes, hangouts, weddings... you get the idea.

[And man do they earn. A good picture of a celeb leaving his home can net the paparazzo US$1000, while pics of bigger events like Julia Roberts' baby, can net a paparazzo US$250,000 worldwide!!! Now where's my camera......]

The paparazzi are a double-edged sword though. While some celebrities value their privacy, and react very strongly to any paparazzi who intend to invade into it, some celebrities actually welcome the paparazzi, and purposely make appointments with them so as to get their photos taken!

I guess from this, actors basically fall into 2 types: The hiders and the seekers. The hiders, as indicated, see acting as a way to hide their true selves from the public. By playing a persona, another character, they are able to put a mask over their true feelings and personalities and present a more palatable one to the world. They usually place more importance over the skill of their craft than fame.

One example being Chris Martin of Coldplay, who has been known to kick, punch and yell curses at paparazzi.

The seekers seek publicity and attention. These are the ones who go into acting so as to be the centre of attention. They want the adoring fans, the people glancing at them everywhere, and being known wherever they go. They want the attention, and they're willing to use the paparazzi to get that attention.

Think Britney Spears.

But interestingly, there are actually people who are above the paparazzi. People like Tom Cruise who have such large clout in the entertainment industry, that paparazzi are afraid to go near him, lest he unleash his Top Gun Fury.

Heh. Interesting the kind of industries that pop up in Hollywood... But I don't think we're going to see anything like that in Singapore soon... :p