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Pro paparazzo tells story of star stalking
By Liu Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-25 09:32

He recounts how he hid in a haystack for 18 hours for a photo of Tom Cruise while he was shooting in China for Mission Impossible III. His team got their pictures of The Promise, after waiting it out for four days in a deserted building in freezing weather. His partner, photographer Feng Ke, suffered cuts to his legs from shards of glass as he followed Stephen Chow's Kungfu Hustle. He just bound his legs with socks and continued taking pictures, fainting just as he reached the hospital.

Sometimes Zhuo and his partners rely on information from friends or paid informants, such as restaurant waiters and security staff. Often, they just drive around places where the stars liked to hang around, such as the bar area near the Workers' Stadium, Wangjing complex, and the East 3rd Ring Road in Beijing.


Director Gu Changwei and his actress wife Jiang Wenli. [CFP]

Zhuo's typical work day begins at 9 in the morning and ends around midnight. Sometimes, he is not done until 4 or 5 the next morning.

To write a story about actress Huang Yi, Zhuo went door to door in the lane where she used to live. He found the house after knocking on more than 500 doors and finally pieced together details of her early life from former neighbors.

While following actor Huang Xiaoming, he overheard some old ladies talking about the former mother-in-law of director Feng Xiaogang who lived in the same block. He stood near the entrance and asked every old lady entering, if she was this woman. Feng's ex-mother-in-law was the 10th woman to walk in through the gates - and he got his picture.

Life as a paparazzo needs not just time and energy, but also some quick thinking.

Zhuo cites Sun Tzu's The Art of War (Sunzi Bingfa), a book about military strategy written around the 6th century BC, to explain: "Those good at battle know how to cover themselves."

To approach the homes of stars, he has sometimes posed as a house buyer, and at others as an interior decorator. But he has also played just a devoted fan. Every time he left a neighborhood, he would make a mental note of a company office located there, so that the next time he could pretend to be part of their staff.

Zhuo says his job takes courage, too.

Once the assistant of a very famous director called Zhuo, asked him to stop reporting on him, and threatened to "solve the problem in what we think is a proper way". Zhuo's partner once found himself running down a cliff for two hours, chased by staff of the film crew.

Other star managers have tried to co-opt Zhuo in creating favorable gossip. Zhuo accepted only one of these offers and included how the manager negotiated with him, in the story.

Chen Jiong, a former colleague, says "Zhuo is devoted to his job. He is alert to any clues that may be useful, even when chatting or dining with friends. Some entertainment reporters like to show off how close they are to the stars, but not Zhuo".

Reflecting on his work, Zhuo says: "Believe it or not, being a paparazzo is my way of realizing my dream to be a journalist.

"Journalism is about revealing the truth, but this goal would be harder to achieve if I were to cover politics or social news, which have more taboos. Entertainment is where it is practical for me to realize my dream."