Shooting Stars
Paparazzi like Mel Bouzad have become arbiters of Hollywood taste--and tastelessness
By Terry McCarthy
Fall 2005 Style & Design
It is another sunny morning in west Los Angeles, and Mel Bouzad has set
his goal for the day: he wants to get pictures of Jennifer Lopez and
Jennifer Garner—"you know, Ben's girls," he says with a laugh. As one
of L.A.'s top paparazzi, Bouzad, 26, makes it his business to know where
celebrities will be at any given time. He has decided to check on a gym
where Garner works out in the mornings. He makes a U-turn in his silver
Mercedes CLR convertible while talking on a cell phone in his thick
Cockney accent to his office about a billing problem: "Tell them we need
more money. We can blacklist the magazine. We don't need them. They need
us."
The question of who needs whom is a pointed one. Most stars accuse the
paparazzi of being bottom-feeders who profit from stalking and
harassment. The photographers, however, maintain that these same
celebrities secretly know they can't do without paparazzi. "Celebrities
need a higher level of exposure than the rest of us," says Peter Howe,
author of Paparazzi, which chronicles the history of the trade. "So it
is a two-way street. The celebrities manipulate the paparazzi too." And
the money is huge. "If I get Britney and her baby, I'll be able to buy a
house in those hills," says Bouzad, pointing to the mansion-studded
slopes above Sunset Boulevard. "That would go for $2 million worldwide."
Bouzad's biggest single sale has been a picture of Ben Affleck and Lopez
in Georgia after their breakup, for which he claims to have earned
$150,000. "I got a tip from Matt Damon's girlfriend's hairdresser," he
says. Like all other successful paparazzi, Bouzad has a network of
bodyguards, barmen, waiters and concierges whom he pays for tips.
Bouzad was born in London and began freelancing at 17. His first picture
sale was of Liam Gallagher from the band Oasis. Bored during a long
stakeout at Gallagher's home, Bouzad ordered a pizza to the house and
shot Gallagher as he answered the door. Bouzad arrived in Los Angeles
31/2 years ago with a camera bag and a suitcase of clothes. Now he runs
his own company, MB Pictures, and employs seven other photographers.
Bouzad cruises along Sunset Boulevard, where he spots two paparazzi
parked outside the Chateau Marmont hotel. "They are waiting for Cameron
Diaz—facing both directions so they don't have to make a U-turn on
Sunset," he says. Then he drives into the Hollywood Hills and reels off
the names of stars as he passes their houses: Halle Berry, Keanu Reeves,
Tobey Maguire, Courteney Cox.
By midafternoon, when Bouzad decides to head home, he has no
pictures—but he doesn't feel down. The public needs him. The magazines
need him. Even the celebrities need him. And he knows that every day he
has the chance to make more money with one picture than most
people—except maybe movie stars—earn in a year.
|
Premium Content