Claus Bach

Foto: Claus Bach

Paparazzi, Italian for bluebottles; since the rise of the gutter press in Italy in the 1950ies, this term has been used for scandal mongering reporters who make a living from photographs of famous personalities private lives.
From among a babble of voices we can understand in the video almost unbelievable news oscillating between droll jokes and frightening violence: a look-back at the past year consisting of true stories about people unknown up to now, spoken in a typical female news speaker voice, hastily cracking from time to time. These sounded out authentic press extracts have been assigned personal snapshots which either counteract the stories or simply continue them. A suggestive concoction that leaves the audience speechless. What is true, what isn't? And who cares. In this case, however, the arbitrariness of paparazzi-journalism is not taken literally to point out its well-known qualities as real-life satire. The centre of attention lies on its consequences and on peoples attitudes towards this form of journalism. Perception fades away. Curiosity and disgust have become an integral part of everyday life, insidiously lowering our receptiveness to stimuli on an almost daily basis so that in turn it can become possible in such an extremely high economic dimension.