Online Journalism News

Citizen paparazzi agency targets celebrities

Another photographic agency for citizen contributors opens tomorrow.

MrPaparazzi.com invites the public to submit their photographs and video of celebrities, but also asks people to text in reports of celebrity sightings.

Other users can then sign up to receive information on celebrity sightings by text message at 25p per message; the 'inside information' is designed to help the public track down celebrities to photograph.

The site is run by the Big Pictures agency founded by paparazzi photographer Darryn Lyons.

It recommends that would-be photographers should take pictures in the highest possible resolution to make the images more appealing to print publications. It advises them to aim for A-list celebrities like David Beckham rather than Z-lister Bobbie Davro or Craig from Big Brother, and says that images need to be no more than a few days old to be saleable.

Submission guidelines state that by sending material to the site, contributors undertake that their work does not invade the privacy of, or cause inconvenience or 'needless anxiety' for its subject, and is not unlawful, obscene or offensive.

The site also advises that it cannot sell 'dodgy' material and that contributors should use their common sense when taking photographs.

A similar 'stalker' feature run by the Gawker gossip blog attracted criticism in the US last month. Celebrity sightings in New York City were plotted on a Google map in near real-time.

Tags (click tag to find related articles; click icon for feed):
google | united states | new york city | pence | big pictures | david beckham | darryn lyons | bobbie davro |

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