Word: galella
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...also never tire of learning that wealth and fame are likewise no defense against age, decrepitude and death--another lesson that Galella's pictures teach by reminding us that the aging celebrities of today were once shiny and nubile. We have become so accustomed to the superannuated rubble that is the Rolling Stones, it's possible to forget that Mick Jagger was once supple. Or that Goldie Hawn was once the age that she would like us to think she still is. Maybe it's the constant glare of those cameras flashing, but celebrities fade like old books...
...Galella retrospective, which was organized by Margery King, an associate curator at the Warhol Museum, runs through Sept. 1. There are no plans for it to travel; maybe curators at museums not dedicated to an artist as starstruck as Warhol have a hard time imagining their walls filled with pictures that have titles like John Derek and Linda Evans at Sonny and Cher's Opening at the Century Plaza Hotel. Warhol knew Galella and revered him as a fellow traveler in the life devoted to pursuing stars. But Warhol was at the same time a celebrity himself. He had invitations...
Which brings us to Galella and Jackie. For years, he pursued her everywhere. (Everywhere, indeed--one of his pictures is called Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Leaving a Store in Peapack, N.J.) Jackie was his white whale, his pearl of great price, his Holy Grail. The chase ended up in suits and countersuits between them. The last court battle, in 1982, concluded with Galella's agreeing never again to photograph Jackie, Caroline or John Jr. In adulthood John allowed Galella to photograph him at public functions...
Looking over the pictures of Jackie dodging, ducking, literally running from Galella, you feel a twinge of guilt about all this, the way pictures of a slaughterhouse get you to entertain thoughts of vegetarianism. The death of Princess Diana also made paparazzi a dirty word for a while. The profession has recovered, but Galella thinks that the golden age of the paparazzi is behind us. In terms of sheer numbers, the breed has multiplied tenfold since Galella started in the mid-1960s. But the stars and their handlers have fought back, punishing publications that run unflattering pictures by denying them...
...perp walk. Either that or it's some spread of the stars at home, full of bogus informality and contrived intimacies. See enough pictures of some starlet flipping a flapjack, and in no time, you're longing to see Sean Penn giving you the finger. When you're ready, Galella has quite a few of those...