Jude Law hits female photographer outside of restaurant

[katerpillar]

but isn't that the nature of the job? Some of the characture traits that (supposedly might?) make a good pap - the ability to take a great shot of human vulnerability (because lets face it those kind of shots pay more & are more interesting to us gossipers) and to keep taking those shots when the next person might turn away or not want to intrude... (some of them seem to have "stalkerish" abilities, too...) well, surely that ability comes with some other unsavoury attributes?

I know that we all say things like "disgusting paps" etc, but, they are merely catering to a market and if the market wasn't there... they wouldn't be able to sell their photos negating the need for paps..... And lets face it - each & everyone of us on here is helping to create that market, so we have some culpability too. Don't we?

I agree - a person's most effective professional traits can also be their dark side.

The qualities you say make a good pap manifest positively in other "photo journalism" (*cough* if you can call paps that) areas. The ability to keep taking photos when others would turn away and to persist until they get what is needed is what gives the world footage of things that little girl in Vietnam running down the street with her clothes burnt off by napalm. Disturbing stuff, but which the public needed to see. I think basically with any job, but specifically here with entertainment photography, it comes down to weighing the positives vs negatives of an action.

Is the act of taking a photo of a celeb at a media event, or strolling in the park with a new boyfriend, etc justified by the worth of the outcome? Sure. The public are interested so it serves to satisfy that interest - and at worst it's only a minor irritation to the celeb who has chosen to be a figure of interest. However, bugging celebs' houses, driving dangerously in pursuit, unethically provoking them in person or from in a vehicle, stalking their kids and families, doing appalling things like taking pictures of celebs while seriously injured or dead... that sort of thing is not justified by the outcome. It goes from a minor irritation to an excessive invasion of privacy, it makes innocent people around them suffer, it can be dangerous and all the harm it causes outweighs any good that could come from serving the public interest. It's not going to have a profound impact on the psyche of the masses, it's not going to have political or historical significance. Ultimately, the public interest will be equally as satisfied with photos of Celeb X just splashing around at the beach. Catering to more morbid or voyeuristic thirsts isn't exactly performing the greater good.

The difference is defined by whether they'll not just step over the line but polevault across it if they think it'll serve their own interests.

(Someone needs to stop me posting on here when it's 5 am and I'm stoned with tiredness yet can't sleep. I write small essays.)

[Rica]

i like your style, kater, stoned tired and essayin'

[Miss A]

I still don't get why celebrities just don't cooperate and pose for pictures for a few minutes and make nice, or stay low like Jodi Foster, Meryl Streep, and several others. I mean, he wanted to be a celebrity fame whore and this is part of that world when you go out in public. Don't like it? Can't control yourself? Drop out and move to Springfield where ever and have all the privacy you want.

Exactly. There are quite a few who lay low most of the time and the few times they out and about in LA or NYC other hotspots they are gracious. You just don't see this kind of thing happen with them. And they are bigger stars than Jude Law. So it's possible.

[MoodyJenny86]

Who cares if she's a girl? She's not there as a girl, but as a pap. These sort of scuffles happen all the time. I dont think stars should hit the paps, but I don't think that paps need to get so close to get a pic. It's a rough business; from what I understand they often fight with each other jockeying for position and will knock down bystanders to get a shot.

If he'd stopped and punched her--or thrown a can of beans at her--I'd feel that was actionable, but I'd feel that way regardless of the pap's gender.

^Agreed.