Saturday, August 22, 2009

Paparazzi fear Britney Spears shoots

Britney Spears horded by paparazzi outside the courthouse in Los Angeles.

Britney Spears horded by paparazzi outside the courthouse in Los Angeles.

More paparazzi are dropping out of the pack following Britney Spears because of the risk — to them.

The legion of lensmen has been infiltrated by L.A. gang members — Crips and Bloods, according to some photo-agency heads. They claim rival agencies are arming the thugs with cameras and sending them out to do battle with the dozens of paps who rubberneck around Hollywood's favorite train wreck.

Veteran snapper Nick Stern, who quit the Splash agency this month, said: "I've heard stories of fights, of car tires being slashed, cars being blocked in."

All of the agency heads we interviewed said they do not hire street toughs.

"They may dress like gang members with large pants and tattoos, but to say they're gang members right now, well, real gang members are not into Britney Spears," said Frank Navarre, a Frenchman who owns the X17 agency. "I think red carpet is worse. I used to do red carpet myself, and one guy broke my camera."

"Britney Spears attracts huge numbers of photographers, and whoever muscles their way to the front gets the best picture. They're not AP photographers wearing flak jackets, but that's not to say they're thugs, either," said Chris Doherty, owner of the INF agency, which got the first photo of Spears after she was sprung from the UCLA Med Center psych unit Wednesday. "We got it because we didn't follow the gang mentality."

It gets hairy just being on the road with the "Mad Max"-style convoy of snappers who chase Spears.

Brad Elterman, who owns Buzz Foto, got out of Brit biz after his agency got the closeup of Spears strapped to a gurney.

"It's too dangerous," said Elterman, whose work will be featured in the show "Paparazzi as an Art Form" at L.A.'s Maryam Seyhoun Gallery. "She goes through a yellow light, you go through a red. People break laws. I tell my guys now, ‘Don't speed, don't chase, and stay away from Britney Spears.'"

Things may get safer now that the singer is under psychiatric care and Jamie Spears has had his daughter's vehicles garaged. But no one can tow away the story.

"I cannot say she's boring, no," says Navarre. "I must say she's been pretty good at renewing herself. She doesn't accept any authority, any boundaries. To some people, that looks crazy. She's stronger than you think."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/02/11/2008-02-11_paparazzi_fear_britney_spears_shoots.html#ixzz0P19uhbC3

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