Paparazzi boss Darryn Lyons offers cash for mobile phone pics of celebs

According to The Guardian, Darryn Lyons, the larger than life founder of the Big Pictures photo agency, is encouraging budding paparazzi to start sending him celebrity shots from their cameraphones. "Lyons will be offering the new service via a mobile version of the website, MrPaparazzi.com, which he launched 18 months ago, combining celebrity news, photos and videos in a Perez Hilton-style blog. [via MocoNews] More on Darryn Lyons on Picturephoning.com. permalink (July 9th, 2008)

The Rise of the 'Citizen Paparazzi'

Photo agencies are increasingly relying on submissions from regular folk who either happen to bump into celebrities while carrying digital cameras, or who have injected themselves into the cat-and-mouse game of celebrity snapshots, despite any formal training. The Wall Street Journal reports. This has led to an explosion in the number of photographs available to magazines and websites. And it has created friction with the old-guard paparazzi, who often find themselves navigating throngs of amateurs at red-carpet events. The pros complain that the newcomers are partly to blame for depressed prices, since they sometimes agree to sell shots for $25 or $50 that could have commanded several hundred dollars before. What's more, they gripe about rude and particularly aggressive behavior from some of the amateurs – no small allegation in an industry long known for its anything-goes tactics. ... Increasingly, nonprofessionals are positioning themselves alongside press photographers, said Brian Ach, a full-time freelancer for celebrity-photo agency WireImage, which is also owned by Getty. "It becomes difficult when there are marked spots for traditional agencies at an event, and somebody with a little point-and-shoot shows up and says, 'Well, I'm with so-and-so Web site," he said. "It happens at every single event." ... The reason these services are thriving, said Darryn Lyons, the founder of the London-based Web site Mr. Paparazzi, is that the general public is more likely to come across a million-dollar sighting than a photographer dispatched to capture an image. permalink (February 26th, 2008)

Make money, become citizen paparazzi

It might be not as citizen as the other citizen cellphone press, but the web site Mr. Paparazzi is gaining momentum -- thanks to its recent Yahoo! People Choice award. Launched in April last year, the web site teases anybody with a cellphone to become a paparazzi, upload their pictures on site, and get a 50% share on their picture earnings. The site is a spin-off from the Big Pictures business of Darryn Lyons who got a lot of free publicity from the BBC’s Pararazzi documentary series, adds Wordblog. permalink (January 5th, 2007)

I'm a celebrity snapper - get out a camera and send me pictures

Paparazzi supremo Darryn Lyons tells James Robinson over at The Guardian about his plan to use the public to shoot the stars - even if it's with a mobile phone. ... "With his brightly coloured hair and ostentatious clothes, Lyons has become the public face of celebrity photographers. ... His shots of Princess Diana holidaying with Dodi Fayed made his reputation - and quite possibly his first fortune. They were sold around the world and made millions. Lyons has made more money from celebrities than anyone else - he estimates that his company Big Pictures handles about 5,000 photos a day. With MrPaparazzi.com, Lyons provides yet another revenue stream by giving members of the public an easy way to sell shots taken on digital cameras or mobile phones. He concedes that 'punters' could approach newspapers themselves, but says his relationship with 5,000 or so titles guarantees he will get a better price - and contributors' anonymity is guaranteed. He claims to have made £200,000 for punters in the three months since he set it up. The site also pays for tips of possible stories or information about celebrities' whereabouts. MrPaparazzi.com is currently getting about 300,000 hits a week, and Lyons wants to turn it into a 'social networking' site in the MySpace vein. It will provide news, text alerts and possibly even video footage before long." permalink (November 12th, 2006)

Twofour TV to launch celebrity 'mobishow'

Twofour Convergence TV will be launching a made for mobile 'mobishow' featuring celebrity paparazzi Darryn Lyons, according to NMA . "Mr Paparazzi Mobile will be a weekly show presented by Lyons featuring the weekly top 5 celebrity stories with exclusive photos. To tap into the user generated content boom, the show will pay up to £50,000 for the right exclusive photo or video from a member of the public." permalink (October 12th, 2006)