When I gave her my first book about her, I learned from mutual acquaintances that she had put it in plain view in her living room, where it remained until her death. She was always doing something: jogging, buying books, seeing friends. then one time she saw us together and fired her. She used to give me tips like the name of where Jackie got her manicure. She was convinced I would chase her, as in fact I did.Īm I wrong or were you a bit obsessed with Jackie? Rumor has it that she dated your assistant for a while.Ī Norwegian girl named Gretta, yes. She saw me and, to keep me from photographing Caroline, she ran. She had taken her daughter to play tennis. After that first picture she put on the sunglasses she was holding, but by then I had taken it. When I got out I found her almost in front of me and snapped. I chased her for a few blocks in a cab, so she wouldn’t recognize me. I had taken the job just because it was on 88th Street, near Jackie’s house, and I hoped I would get to see her. It is a photo that is a child of chance: I was in Central Park shooting with a model. A natural, timeless beauty, without makeup. It’s my best picture, my Mona Lisa, and not just because it’s the most famous, but also because of her expression, that smile just of the eyes. One of you most famous photographs shows Jackie Kennedy crossing the street in New York with her hair tousled by the wind. And they are always surrounded by bodyguards. They laugh too much, they show their teeth. Now they take lessons on how to deal with the media, how to go on television. How were the stars of those days different from those of today? You would go there late and catch them all. Everybody was going through there at one time or another. I never liked stars posing too much I was looking for realistic images. ![]() What did you look for in the celebrities you photographed?īeauty, but not only that. Taken as a whole, they are the ultimate chronicle of the American star system’s glory years. All around us, above, below, on the walls, on the floor, on the furniture, practically in every room, were white boxes filled with his treasure-the thousands of photos taken during his lifetime, all perfectly catalogued. We sat together in a living room with soaring ceilings and a huge red sofa in the shape of an S. He invited me to spend an afternoon at his house-slash-museum in New Jersey. I decided to contact Galella after seeing a documentary about him called Smash His Camera. Although his job was to chase stars and steal glimpses of them, his photos have been recognized as art, exhibited in major galleries and purchased by collectors and museums. So are the exhibitions that have been dedicated to him. Jackie Kennedy, Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Sean Penn, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Robert Redford, Mick Jagger, Diana Ross, Brooke Shields, Liz Taylor-the list of people he photographed is endless. Ron Galella died last April 30, at the age of 91, leaving behind an unparalleled career and an archive that contains some of the most famous images in American costume history.
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