Private paparazzi makes you a celebrity

In a western restaurant in Austin, Texas, Kevin Hagedorn waits anxiously for the signal to move, sitting across from his wife.

When the phone finally rang at 9 p.m., Mr. Hagedorn settled his bill and pulled his wife toward the door when a group of photographers "out of nowhere" blocked them, snapping pictures and chanting, "Look at this! Look here!" They couldn't even keep their eyes open because of the flash.

Traffic on Parliament Avenue soon came to a standstill. People jumped out and took pictures of them with their cell phones, asking where they came from.

They're not stars at all. Hagedorn, a local property consultant, and radio host had arranged the fake media raid to celebrate his wife's pregnancy.

"She was so happy," Hagedorn said with a smile. "She was laughing the whole time."

For that crazy half hour, Hagedorn had to pay $250 to Celeb 4 A Day.

The most interesting business

Now, private paparazzi offer people the chance to buy fame.

Tamil Kaur, the company's founder, was studying at a commercial photography school in Santa Barbara, California, four years ago when she got the idea to make money while watching an entertainment show. In November 2007, she founded Celebrity in a Day.

The company offers two services:

1. A-listers ($250). It included four photographers taking pictures of the subject for half an hour, asking personal questions aloud (the subject had filled out questionnaires about habits, careers, and interests), and a copy of a magazine, My Star, that featured the subject as a headline.

2. Superstar ($1,500). It includes a two-hour follow by six photographers, a publicist and a bodyguard, a babysitter's car (optional), a fake magazine, and a CD with photos on it.

"Everyone, adult or not, has seen the lives of celebrities in movies and they think, I wonder what that feels like, just once," Cole said.

Few came here to feel like celebrities at first. Then one day, out of the blue, Time magazine interviewed her, and after that, the phone kept ringing. Ms. Kaur has an appointment almost every weekend, and now it's not even possible to get one on New Year's Eve.

Those who don't cut have other options. In the United States, six or seven companies and independent photographers now offer private paparazzi services in California, Texas, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and New York.

The King of Clubs company in Las Vegas does this for its members. The company started five years ago when founder John Tice added a private paparazzi service in 2004 to cater to wealthy customers.

"It's an expensive project," Theis admits. "Not everyone can afford it."

The King of Clubs offers celebrity packages that start at $1,500 and can go as high as $24,000 if customers want to add a special element -- like a rabid fan who will rush out to get your autograph or chase you around the block.

Sometimes, specialized companies are intimidated by special requests from customers.

Reggie Waller, 27, founder of Private Paparazzi in San Diego, had a client who wanted to hire one of his photographers to "cover" his birth, with a specific request -- to record the moment the baby's head was exposed.

Private Paparazzi, a two-year-old company with 20 to 25 photographers nationwide, is also working with a limousine company to cater to customers who order top celebrity services. The company charges $75 an hour per photographer, and most clients hire one or three photographers, according to Lindsay Chelan, director of client relations.

In Waller's view, attention hunger has spawned these so-called private paparazzi companies. "They're not so much enjoying the photos as enjoying the attention."

Some people don't find the limelight enjoyable. One day celebrities encountered such customers. The company was commissioned by a man to surprise one of his colleagues. When the camera began to flash, the target was stunned and in a fit of rage, he punched the colleague and then walked away.

"It's a byproduct of a growing culture of sensationalism that we don't know how to deal effectively with our boring everyday lives." Says Laura Young, a 45-year-old life coach in Chicago.

Kyle Kateri, an associate professor at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, sees it as a cultural phenomenon. "Hollywood has been trying to define our consumption structure for a century, everything from sunglasses to Armani, and you can pass yourself off as rich by wearing expensive gowns," he said. "Now things like private paparazzi allow you to buy fame."

Mandy Johnston, a member of the private paparazzi who graduated from art school last year, disagrees, arguing that the naysayers always miss the crucial point: that the business itself is fun.

"It's the most interesting job I've ever had." "The 22-year-old said.

The most natural photo

"No silly smirks, pretentious poses, ugly chins, or pretentious hips. Leave that to the paparazzi."

Not everyone who hires a private paparazzi wants to pose as a celebrity or entertain themselves. Some customers just want the most natural shot.

This is the case with photographer Izaz Loni's client, Kristin Savage, who entrusted Loni with a week's schedule so he could pop in unguarded and capture more vivid expressions. "Savage said. Most of the photos will be for personal use, but they may also be posted on her social media sites.

Social networking sites, exemplified by MySpace and Facebook, are what Mr. Lowney sees as the driving force behind the new industry of private paparazzi.

"In this day and age, we all have to protect (or enhance) our images, and some people need to work with their images." He said.

Recognizing the need, Mr. Lowney took out a provocative AD in DailyCandy, an E-mail newspaper with nearly 400,000 New York users

"... No silly smirks, pretentious poses, unsightly chins, or pretentious hips. Leave that to the paparazzi

So while Loni's fees aren't cheap -- starting at $600 for a photo set and a "like" consultation -- many customers come to her door, including Janet Shelley, a project manager at a well-known restoration company. As a paparazzo following Shelley, Loni had to stand on a 20-story scaffolding and use a Canon DSLR camera to capture photos of her working in Manhattan. Shelley, 37, has no plans to post the photos online. She wants to give them to her grandmother to show her what she does for a living.

Where paparazzi cameras once chased only the glitz world, they are now trying to make money off the backs of the general public. As a business idea, private paparazzi are brilliant. So far, Kaur's one-day list has expanded to Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, with plans in the works for Miami and Chicago.