Review of Smash His Camera (2010) by Mike C — 06 Nov 2010

I recently watched a docu about a 14 year old new papo. This movie goes the other way, more or less telling the story of one of the firsts and now one of the oldest out there. Like what he does or not, it's a pretty captivating documentary.

First, there is the art. Some will not call it art because the pics are not about what is in the pics but who is in the pics. A decent point, but damn, look at them. Some pretty badass shots that would actually be cool with anyone but are spectacular given the unposed nature of the celebrity in the shot. I guess that's the second thing. Look at the new papo and their photos are mostly crap. This guy was at least a good photographer and went for the quality shot. Finally, the business side of it. He has over three million photos of various celebs/icons in his basement. We take for granted the great photos that accompany stories about these celebs even years after they were in their prime. Where do those photos come from? Despite what he does, but a lot of legend comes out of the photos that Galella took.

It's a good docu because it challenges the notion that all papo are bad. Some of what Galella did is questionable, but I guess anyone who works for an insurance or credit card company does questionable stuff every day, too. On top of that question, there are plenty of great stories about his top shots, and some debate on the first amendment, etc. It's all packaged very well in an informative, entertaining manner. The best thing besides the good shots is Galella's love of rabbits. It seems to be as legendary as some of his photos.

Watch this docu for the cool photos if nothing else.