I find it fitting for the class that this past summer I interned for a small independent documentary film called "Giving It Up." The film centers around our increasingly media-saturated and celebrity-obsessed society and follows an up-and-coming (paparazzi) photo agency called JFX Images. The catch, you ask? This burgeoning agency was founded, is comprised of and is fun by former LA gang members from the Koreatown district of LA. While interning in the production office, I had a handful of different tasks, from the usual bitch work- going on coffee runs and whatnot- to capturing, watching and loglining/grouping the daily footage for the editors. The majority of this footage consisted of the director following various paparazzi as they in turn followed (or stalked) the likes of Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Nicole Richie and Brad Pitt. Suffice to say, I sifted through my fair share of raw footage of celebrities avoiding, running from and even insulting photographers. Yet at the same time, there were gracious and accommodating celebrities like Robert Downey, Jr. that took the time out of their day to allow the paparazzi and their flashing lightbulbs into their lives. What I found interesting, however, is that although the general public casts their eyes down on this particular facet of the industry of celebrity photography, after watching the footage of not only the photographers' personal and family lives, I began to realize that they dedicate much more time, money, and energy to tracking and "papping" these celebrities (a term I learned that is used by the paparazzi when referring to taking pictures of celebs) than they do with actually spending time with their wives and children at home. During interviews, these men- as I said former LA gang members- would open up in front of the camera and discuss their concerns and worries about their children essentially growing up without their daily guidance because they are out each day (and night) hoping for just the right moment with a celebrity to capture them in some act that the magazines will spin in their favor to sell magazines. Another thing that intrigued me about these interviews was that one of the founders of the agency spoke of "papping" as not only his passion, but almost as an art. By passion, I don't mean to say that he enjoyed following celebrities on a daily basis. Instead, whenever he explained his love for his job, he explained how rewarding it felt to take the pictures of the celebrities that didn't objectify or ridicule them; to him, indeed these pictures were the cash cow at the office, yet he favored taking the kinds of pictures that were obscure to most other photographers. He talked about the invigorating feeling he felt in situations where he was one-on-one with celebrities and actually had pleasant experiences with them- much like our first class meeting when we shared exciting stories about our celeb encounters. Except..he encounters them on a daily basis. After hearing these men talk about their lives and their work, it seemed to almost legitimize their profession in an artistic light and really humanize them as hard-working and even as workaholics that are trying to make a living just like everyone else.