smash his camera II

 

Photographer Ron Galella (TIME calls him "a paparazzi pioneer") named that picture "Windblown Jackie."

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foreground:  Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

background:  Ron Galella

        In the documentary Smash His Camera (now streaming on Amazon Prime) various people interviewed, give their opinions -- pro and con -- about Mr. Galella.  In one segment there's a volley back and forth, like ping-pong, of talking heads--some speaking well of the snapper, and others just "dragging" him like mad.

His uninvited, candid picture-taking of Mrs. Onassis inspired strong negative emotions in some people.  They could remember clearly the assassination of her first husband, President John F. Kennedy -- shot to death in the backseat of a moving open car, sitting next to Jackie.  In 1971 that Dealey Plaza debacle was only eight years in the past.

For some random photographer to be now stalking her through the streets of New York City was seen by these people as heaping cruelty on top of infamy and horror.

  "Leave Mrs. Kennedy alone!!" was their attitude.

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