Gratitude-Day 13

I am grateful for empty afternoons, filled with naps, crafts, and doggie potty training.

Ron Galella

I watched this documentary called "Smash His Camera" about a paparazzi named Ron Galella. It was very interesting. He is famous for all these controversies with Jackie O. And the rights of individual privacy and the right of free press and all that. Which I won't get into, since I don't really have any strong opinions on the matter.
But I have to admit the documentary moved me.
This man made it his life's work to show the icons of the time to be real. He spent hours staring at them, looking for them, chasing them, fighting for the right to continue to show them as they are... Humans.
But by taking these idols and dedicating his life to proving they were as human as everyone else, he became obsessed... essentially idolizing the very people he wanted to prove to be human. It's incredible. And so heart-breakingly sad. Because these people stayed famous for a blink of an eye. He sought to immortalize the mortal.
He took so many beautiful, real photos of people in the height of their fame... people who have now sunk into obscurity. It's sad to me, that a man who dedicated his life to a moment... is now lost in the future. How long will his photographs be famous? How long will people be able to appreciate his genius, his determination, his love, and the truest parts of the fame he exposed? They are truly beautiful moments.
I don't know if he was right... if he was a little bit crazy... or if he was just out to make money (which he did. He made So. Much. Money.) But I do know that no matter how controversial... he was an artist who loved his medium.
And that is pretty awesome.