The 2010 film Smash His Camera documented the career of a well-known photographer, Ron Galella. His career was prominent in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Galella created a new form of photography; It has been criticized by many and often looked at as quite controversial. Whether he was in the right or in the wrong is continually up for debate. Finding a balance between the rights covered by the First Amendment and the privacy rights we should, or should not, be entitled to gets complicated.
Being in the public eye certainly has its pros and cons. One of the main sacrifices you have to make is privacy. I’m sure it can be quite exhausting, especially when you have people in your bushes outside trying to snap photos. Galella had no boundaries and went to the extreme to get his shots. His practices even ending up taking him to court. Of course restraining orders and a punch in the face didn’t hold him back. He was very determined to keep pursuing his career.
Although he faces a lot of criticism, his work is pretty impressive. Regardless of the amount of enemies he has, his work is displayed all over the world and he has made a very successful career along the way. I thought it was interesting to listen to what he had to say about the events. He had everything planned out very well regarding how to sneak in and crash events. It certainly required a lot of effort.
Some people think he didn’t care about people, but I’m not so sure. Maybe I believe the best in people, but I feel as if he was just trying to get natural photos of the unfamiliar. Many Americans are curious of the way celebrities live their lives when people aren’t watching, whether they admit it or not. Otherwise there wouldn’t be all these different magazines and what not that follow celebrities around and expose every move they make. He was interested it capturing moments that were not expected. At times he may have been a little too persistent. If he wasn’t taking the photos, I’m sure someone else would.