Paparazzi is a derogatory term for news photographers, especially those who invade the privacy of their subjects or who follow them relentlessly in search of a photo. Their subjects are usually celebrities, but they can also be victims of tragedy or those involved in scandal. The increasing availability of long lenses and low-light cameras have made the paparazzi's job easier. They can be combined with the use of a motorcycle to follow other vehicles through traffic, where the ideal situation would be to catch the celebrity with in a new romance or visiting a detoxification centre etc.
The word derives from Paparazzo, the name of a news photographer character in Federico Fellini's film La Dolce Vita.
Some people blamed paparazzi for the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, after they asked the driver to speed in order to escape, resulting in a severe collision.
In Hong Kong, a group of paparazzi is called a "puppy team" – as puppies typically follow people closely. The Oriental Daily of Hong Kong was found guilty of "scandalising the court" (an extremely rare criminal charge), by letting its paparazzi track a judge, and then attacking the judge with insulting articles.
It has become very common practice for some paparazzi to intentionally bother or harass celebrities in an attempt to evoke some sort of a reaction on the part of the subject. Nothing satisfies a paparazzo more than a physical confrontation with an irked celebrtiy.
