Photojournalist - Tom Burton - Behind the Viewfinder

June 30, 1998

One of the reasons "Behind the Viewfinder" was launched last year was to explain that very few professional photojournalists are the "paparazzi" that buzz around celebrities like insects. At the time, the world was blaming aggressive photographers for the death of Princess Diana. Photographers looked like a pack of jackals.

Yesterday I was part of the pack, looking for the celebrity of the moment and facing Armageddon. This sounds dramatic but it involved Disney, a movie called "Armageddon" and a very controlled NASA facility. It wasn’t as frantic as some things I’ve seen.

Over the past year, it was uncomfortable to have strangers question us about being paparazzi. For the newspaper photographer covering daily news, most of us rarely cover big time celebrities and never stalk them. It is not necessary for our mission of covering local news or for us to collect a pay check.

The paparazzi environment has occurred because for a freelance photographer, the pay offs connected to celebrity photography are inviting. So many people buy magazines with celebrities on the covers that the editors pay large fees for exclusive, candid photos of the hottest celebrities. Some of the photographers following Princess Diana at the time of her death could earn enough money in a week of stake outs to finance a month in a war region. The pay for the paparazzi photos is easily ten times great than pay for regular assignments - even war coverage.

When the photographers are not abusive, there are benefits for the celebrities too. They need the exposure to become more popular and then earn bigger paychecks for starring in movies. They stage events where they can be photographed and invite coverage of their personal lives.

The starts began to gather for a group picture and were being directed by a publicity photographer. Liv Tyler, Billy Bob Thornton and Ben Affleck begin to take their position in front of the movie sign.

All photos Š1998 Tom Burton/The Orlando Sentinel

more photos click here

Most celebrities are entertainers and one of the oldest "photo ops" is the movie premiere. On the opening night of a movie, the media is invited to see the stars and their famous friends enter a theater. These events are almost exclusively held in California, but Disney has started holding one premiere a year at a unique location, giving an extra boost to that film’s promotion. Armageddon was filmed in part at the Kennedy Space Center so Disney held a press only premiere at the Saturn V complex. More than 250 press credentials were issued and 500 guests attended the screening.

There might have been more media but the star of the movie, Bruce Willis, wasn’t expected to attend. The news had just broke that he and his famous wife Demi Moore were going to divorce and Willis was in seclusion. If he were to attend the premiere, it would be his first appearance since the news broke.

The press were asked to park at the NASA Visitor Center where they were issued credentials that had been approved weeks before, including security clearances with social security numbers. We rode charter buses several miles to the Saturn V complex. The only media who drove were television stations that were bringing satellite trucks.

We arrived at the complex at about 4 p.m., at least an hour and a half before anything would happen. The guests would be dropped off at a traditional red carpet and the stars would walk a long row of television and print reporters for interviews. They would turn a corner to enter a huge tent that Disney had built to hold a 500-seat movie theater. Just before the stars entered the theater, there was a backdrop where the still photographers could shoot pictures.

I dropped my bag at a spot I wanted to hold and then watched a crew put up a temporary fence in front of where we were to stand. I heard someone else call it the "photographer’s pen." I moved my bag against the fence, checked and double checked my equipment and chatted with other photographers. We wondered how low the sun would drop before the celebrities arrived and were grateful there was a sea breeze. It was 94 degrees in the shade. And we were in the full sun.

The designated area for still photographers was fenced off before the stars began to arrive. It was refered to as the photographers' "pen" but the photographers did roam away from its confines now and then.

All photos Š1998 Tom Burton/The Orlando Sentinel

more photos click here

A little after 5 p.m. some Hollywood looking folks started arriving and pent-up energy made us all shoot a few frames of a woman who slightly resembled Pamela Anderson. She proved to be a hanger on, not connected to anyone famous. We’d have to wait a little longer.

While standing around, I chatted with the publicity person handling the photographers. I told her I really, really needed an overall view of the red carpet walk and that I couldn’t see it from the still photographers position. Of course, the photographers around me agreed they too needed that shot. We were escorted in groups of three onto the carpet where the interviews were being held. I was able to get a good photo of Ben Affleck, a new hot star, goofing with the E! network crew. Affleck is a primary star in the movie, he’s dating Gwyneth Paltrow and since Willis wasn’t going to show, he was big enough for a lead picture. I could almost go back to office right then.

I returned to the pen and caught photos of rap star Coolio, actor Cuba Gooding Jr. and Steve Tyler, the lead singer of Aerosmith and the father of Liv Tyler, another star in the movie. The celebrities were all very cooperative, stopping long enough for everyone to quickly shoot a few frames before they went into the theater.

Someone spotted Billy Bob Thornton with his date Laura Dern. They were standing across the way and the 300mm telephoto lens I shelpped along proved to be handy. Thornton looked considerably thinner than in the past and he sported a black leather biker look, complete with tattoos.

Then the assignment took a turn. Bruce Willis showed up after all. The photographers’ pen instantly became the emptiest place at the space center.

The publicity photographer for the movie was setting up a cast photo and the rest of the still photographers became a pack, looking to shoot the same picture. We hadn’t been invited, but none of use would move. We all shot bits and pieces as the group was assembled and we shoot the standard group picture.

The photo that ran in the Sentinel today showed Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck and the movie’s producer Jerry Bruckheimer ("Top Gun" and "Crimson Tide").

None of the photos from these assignments are great photography. At their best, they are well executed snapshots quickly made under pressure. Their value comes only from the readers recognizing people they think they know from seeing them on television and the movies. People ask me what it was like to meet someone like Bruce Willis and I can’t really tell them. All I do is make a picture, try to be polite and make it back to the paper for deadline.

This is the photo that ran in the June 30 edition of The Orlando Sentinel. It fit the requirements of showing Bruce Willis while also fitting a square hole on the page.

All photos Š1998 Tom Burton/The Orlando Sentinel

more photos click here

Tomorrow, we will run a few more photos with our celebrity writer’s column. And the photo agencies were calling today. They thought there might be a resale market for those Bruce Willis photos.

June 30, 1998

Tom Burton