'Take me, I am photogenic'

The camera is a wonderful instrument. Millions like to face it but some don't. Although now it is very easy to become a good photographer with the digital techniques there was a time when you had to manage with films of 12 or 35 shots.

Some people say 'those are the photographers' who grabbed every moment with limited resources. They had the knowledge to develop the negatives and print the photographs at home in a dark room which normally is a divided part of their bedrooms. But what's wrong with using new technology and becoming a good photographer? It is an art. If you can master it with any means, what's the fuss?

Among the different types of photographers, the press ones are the ones who take more risks capturing their frames. Someone can say the wildlife photographers are the ones taking risks. But it is just from one or two types of big cats or elephants. But press ones have lost lives by taking unwanted photographs of politicians and their siblings in many countries in the world. Disclosure by writing or providing a photograph carries the same risk.

Murdoch's media empire

The journalist who blew the first whistle of the wrong doings of Rupert Murdoch's media empire Media Corporation died within days under tragic circumstances. It was concluded as suicide.

When you think of the Queen of England there could be billions of photographs of her taken since her birth 85 years ago. I think most of those photographers must have died of natural causes by now. The queen has been trying to bar intruding photographers for some times. But Paparazzis will not let her go that easy. 'Paparazzi' came from the surname 'Peperesto', a character of an Italian film made in 1959.

Photographers who try to take photographs of celebrities and known people are called Paparazzis. As they have been circling the Royal family for a long time it is not easy to get rid of them. But the queen instructed her lawyers sometime ago to look for ways to bar them from intruding into their privacy. It was a well known fact that Princess Diana died when her driver tried to avoid chasing Paparazzis in a tunnel in Paris.

The Queen wanted to bar them from taking photographs in and around Royal land at any time. At present anyone can take photos from an adjoining land or from a public path focusing what's happening in Royal household or fields. There is a big demand for those types of photographs in magazines and some newspapers.

Some photos were paid more than one hundred thousand Pounds. It is about two hundred lakhs in Sri Lankan rupees. The queen turning the head of a shot bird, Prince Andrew beating his hunting dogs and his ex wife sucking the toe of a lover were amongst highest paid ones. It was said that a Paparazzi waited 23 hours, lying under a bush, in the woods next to the resort where Andrew's ex wife and her lover were staying.

He got one hundred thousand Pounds for that photographs it is said. There were many photos of Princess Diana sun bathing and swimming in the sea with her lover Dodi. But the photos of last moments of her in the accident were not marketable as the press sided with ethics.

Although the Queen tried to bar Paparazzi intrusion just before the Kate and William engagement it has not been successful. It is clearly evident that Paparazzis are in control. The topless pictures of Kate sun-bathing were published in the Paris magazine Closer last week.

An Irish newspaper followed the same as well as an Italian magazine owned by the family of ex Prime Minister Sylvio Berlusconi. It was an embarrassment for the couple who are on their first overseas engagement visiting few countries in the far East. Ironically in Solomon islands Kate was presented with a wooden statue of a topless women. I think that gift was prepared well before the topless photographs of her were published.

When the couple visited William's uncle's house in France, few days before their Asian tour, Kate sunbathed topless on a balcony which is not too far from the vicinity of the public. It said that Paparazzi has captured some intimate moments of the couple. But only the topless photos were published. It was once on the Internet with free access to millions around the world.

Original photographs

The Royals went to court and took an injunction not to publish them anymore and the judge requested the magazine to handover the originals of the photographs to the couple. An Irish newspaper suspended its editor for publishing the photos.

The Royalty is a special thing. It is a special family with many rules to protect the dignity of its members. Some of the members are born Royal. Some are from aristocrats and also from ordinary families. Kate was one from a very ordinary family. Her grandfather was a miner who worked for William's grandmother's coal mines. Her parents worked for British Airways before getting engaged. The mother made every effort to make her daughter meet William and to catch his eye.

Revealing dress

Kate even took a gap year just to enter the same university where William entered. She caught his eye at a catwalk at the university wearing a revealing dress. They became lovers and lived together in a house close to the university until their graduation.

But is she behaving like a person who is going to be the Queen of Great Britain one day? People here are raising their eyebrows. As soon as the couple finished their honeymoon sometime ago, she went shopping in a supermarket, pushing a food trolly. Although it was to show that 'I am the same Kate', it was unnecessary and unfits a royal. We have not seen her in a supermarket since then. As one year older, she should know better than her husband how to behave. It is not necessary to cry in the aftermath of her own mistakes. No one forced her to take the top off.

She did it herself. Maybe it was too hot and itchy. Who knows? A French photographer appeared on TV and said he can't understand the fuss about these photographs as they are just of another body.

I have a conclusion about this fuss. Either these photographs are too beautiful or they are not at all.