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MOSCHINO Man

Photography MAZI SHAMS

Model CHRISTOPHER LIMA

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Nadja Sayej highlights 10 years of celebrity photography in new book, Paparazzi Bitch

What do celebrities look like backstage? A new collection of behind-the-scenes shots are collected in Paparazzi Bitch, a new photo book featuring over 100 celebrity photographs shot over the past 10 years by Nadja Sayej. From Berlin to New York and Venice, this book is a celebration of celebrities shot from the female gaze in a male-dominated field. But also, when do you ever hear about a female paparazzo?

"I'm not a paparazzi, but I do use the art of spontaneity, high flash and action shots to capture celebs with my Nikon," says Sayej, a culture journalist, writer and photographer based in New York City.

The book features black-and-white photographs of Lady Gaga, Catherine Deneuve, Spike Lee, Karl Lagerfeld, Tilda Swinton, as well as Oliver Stone, Willem Dafoe, Keith Richards, Brooke Shields, Karlie Kloss, Laura Dern, David Lynch, and more. It's hot off the heels of the 100 year anniversary of the red carpet, as the film Robin Hood had it's film premiere at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles on October 18, 1922. Looking back 100 years later, what has changed on the red carpet? Some of her photos are very classic in their rendition, capturing celebirties in their most genuine moments. Other shots are backstage, or behind-the-scenes, capturing pensive moments. While others, like her shot of Sarah Jessica Parker, are of people in transit, arriving or departing a destination, often, a gala or film festival.

This new photo book features over 100 photos of celebrities, art stars and fashion luminaries, up close and personal (or as close as she can get, dodging every iPhone in sight). It’s a backstage pass into the lives who dominate our everyday headlines, up close and personal—or at least, captured candidly, and with soul. "This photo book pays tribute to the legacy of women photographers who have been working in entertainment photography all their lives," she said. "Besides the big names we know in the entertainment business, a lot of women photographers are underpaid, overlooked and brushed aside, even though they are incredibly talented and need to believe in themselves more, to step up and stand out like a brash paparazzi photographer--even if they aren't one."