Ron Galella, 'Marlon Brando', 17 April 1983, GAL2046SVU, Vintage gelatin silver print, cm 20,3 x25,2, Signed and noted by the artist.
Born in the 20’s, the most popular paparazzo in U.S.A, Ron Galella, was willing to do almost anything to catch the famous unawares, and his tactics brought him a fame of his own. . . a notoriously pesky photographer, he helped to create icons, to redefine glamour and to launch the age of modern celbrity. “Bandit”, “Hound”, Ron Galella has been called in a lot of ways. In 1955, fresh out of the United States Air Force, he became a paparazzo and redefined the genre. From his notoriously obsessive treatment of Jackie Onassis and the subsequent legal battles associated with it, to his alarmingly beautiful photographs of celebrities in the 60s and 70s, Galella has always been in a category of his own. Possessed of a unique talent to catch stars at moments when they seemed most alive, most human, most stylish, Galella was able to do something no other celebrity watcher was able to do: become a star himself. Featuring images of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Cher, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Mick Jagger and many, many more of the rich, famous and hounded. He now lives and works in New York.