The Sensational Gran-Paparazzi

(**This is a coauthored interview with Melody J Haislip**)

The Definition of Leisure

Many things get better with age and people are among the top contenders in this category. While age has its drawbacks on the body (we are only here but a short while), age on the mind makes us keener, more interesting, more knowledgeable and frankly, less attention- grabbing. Age makes most of us better and with age comes wisdom. Adults have more moxie and can choose options with a more practiced-eye. They usually have better stories to tell and are granted pretty much free reign in their speech. If you ask an adult what they think they might just tell you.

The Grand People in this world are full of vim and vigor, have great opinions to share, and have recently become a united front in the fashion and paparazzi field. Take a look at this fun site called Gran-Paparazzi.  It’s comprised of four very cool artists, hobby photographers and journalists, who have come together to document their days, make friends with passers-by, share meals, trips, movies and friendships. They love taking along their cameras and are enjoying this newly found freedom of expressiveness that can be transmitted across all venues so they can connect with people of all ages, backgrounds and countries. They have put their grand ideas into action and you need to take a look-see.

Theresa: Cassandra also known to her friends and colleagues as Cass has elected to speak for the group. Who was it that started Gran-Paparazzi?

Cass:  The site’s founders are: Leni, Shanti, Jacob, our web development guy Travis and myself.

In early 2008, Leni and I took photos for a senior’s fashion spread in Lester’s Army Magazine. Before the photos were published, a few people saw the snapshots and said, “Yes please! More!”  It got us talking about doing a spin-off blog, so we rounded up a few friends and developed the concept over drinks and dinners.  We hit the streets in December 2008 to find our first subjects.

These Boots Were Made For Walking

Theresa: Cass, you are the fashion editor. Shanti has an endlessly creative imagination, and a remarkable laugh. Leni the artistically inclined risk-taker is founder of Lester’s Army Magazine. And Jacob is the jack-of-all-trades, with a keen eye for retro-fashion and flair. Is it a collaborative effort on each article and photo shoot, or does each of you contribute individually?

Cass:  I’m the fashion editor?  Do we say that somewhere? I do a lot of the copywriting so maybe I’m the house copywriter but we’ve really steered clear of individual titles.  We all pitch in whenever we can; however we can. At GP, you’re a founder, a house contributor or a guest contributor. Everything else is pretty informal.  We don’t have a traditional masthead or anything.

Each post – the photo and write-up – is the work of the individual contributor. We try not to touch anyone’s work, unless there’s a typo or some other type of error. 

We’ve talked a lot about issues like consent and transparency; we’re pretty sensitive to ethical issues around publishing information and images related to this demographic.  So we do have standards for how we approach people and represent them on the site.  If any one of our posts crosses a line, we talk about it.

Mix and Match

Theresa: The photography on your blog hits the mark and is immediately interesting. I very much enjoyed going page-by-page, to see the array of individuals being chosen to work with. Some of them look mighty pleased to have their photo snapped. What determines who will be your newest subject?

Cass:  Almost all of our photos are candid street photos, so there’s a lot of chance involved in who gets photographed. Our next subject is whoever crosses our path looking stylish! 

Theresa: Have you all become friends with some of your models?

Cass:  We distribute our contact info but rarely ask for theirs, so the onus is on the model to get in touch.  Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.

When people do contact us, the exchanges are invariably heartwarming. It’s thrilling to get this kind of feedback.  And we often run into our subjects again and again on the streets, which is really amazing to me.  It makes me think there’s a shortage of possible subjects actually.

Shopping Shenanigans

Once I was invited into a subject’s home, where I met her husband, son and heard all about their life’s passions.  I later ran into them at a social event. Leni and Shanti have had intimate encounters like this too, but they’re rare. Most of our connections are fleeting but whether or not we strike up a friendship isn’t really the point.  It’s about making a simple inter-generational connection that, hopefully, leaves a lasting impression and helps dissolve the tensions that often exist between generations.

Theresa: Is part of the appeal for you in knowing how good you can make someone feel by paying them compliments and showering them with some attention?

Cass: Oh for sure. People tell us all the time that we’ve made their day. Often people start out modest and shy but within seconds they’re busting poses and doing jazz hands.  It’s an amazing thing to witness.

Melody: Do you accept guest photos? I can imagine this is a theme that would appeal to many hobby photographers. How do you choose among submissions, and do you have a process in place for handling them?

Cass:  Yes please!  We would love more submissions.  Submitting is easy – just snap a photo with the subject looking directly into the camera (this implies consent) and do a short write up. 

Melody: Who among you snaps the more clever photographs? Describe a few instances where some of your subjects needed a little persuasion and sweet talk.

Cass:  Leni is definitely the sweet talker in the group.  I win people over with maternal charm – I have a son who’s helped me land many photos – and Shanti is our roaming contributor.  She takes photos in lots of different cities. 

Every subject requires a little persuasion, some more than others. This demographic is really tough to capture, actually.  It takes a lot of legwork to get a single photo because we get rejected all the time! Seniors are reluctant models, so landing a photograph is crazy exciting.  I still pine for the ones that got away; there was a man in a powder blue suit, a woman with a purple wig and a famous old rocker traveling with his mom in Maui; I’ll always regret not being able to share their amazing style with our audience.

Theresa: The younger set, or as I like to refer to them, the me-me-me-look-at-me generation, tends to overlook what is happening around them. Cass, tell me about some of these things you all pick up on and capture through the lens of your cameras?

The Charmer

Cass: Well, first I’ll address the look-at-me issue.  There’s definitely a lot of discussion and, in some cases, data to show that people born from 1970-1990 are too self-assured, narcissistic and overly concerned with individual freedom. But when older generations berate younger generations and vice-versa, it leads to a bit of a stalemate situation. Our project is at least partly an attempt to pick apart generational stereotypes on both sides so we can move past the generalizations.

With few exceptions, we’ve had amazing conversations and fun exchanges with our subjects. When people let us photograph them, they tend to open right up about their lives and struggles and opinions and personal histories.  People who looked a little blasé get jaunty and chatty.  People who looked unapproachable turn out to be really kind.  Between the photo and the write-up, we try to capture the spirit of the encounter.

Maria Laura Pablo

Alexandra Samur

Melody: Who came up with the idea of the Ancestral Photo Remake Contest? It’s absolutely brilliant.

Cass: I think it was actually one of our guest contributors who came to a few of our team dinners last year.  It is a fun concept for sure. 

Melody: Has each of the four of you had your Ancestral Photo taken? Even if you couldn’t compete, it sounds like a lovely keepsake. Has there been a lot of interest in the Contest?

Cass: Yes, we all participated in the remake project.  Mine turned out terribly!  But done well, yeah, it’s a lovely keepsake.  The contest actually ended on July 31 and we had only three entries.  It’s a lot of work for a modest prize.  If anyone wants to submit a remake, I’m sure we’ll find a way to publish it.  Who knows, maybe it’ll become a special section on the site in the future.

Melody: I was intrigued when I read the description of your blog, and I was curious as to why you decided to photograph stylish seniors, a much overlooked demographic, by the way.

Cass: Well, as we say in our mission statement, our goal is to create opportunities for inter-generational dialogue. That’s really what it comes down to. And fashion? Because fashion is something everyone can talk about!  We’re not talking about fashion as high art; we’re talking about everyday garments, so it’s an easy lighthearted way into a conversation with just about anyone.  Fashion also leads to easy visuals for a blog, so it gives us attractive content.  And, let’s face it; it’s fun for us. It’s a break from the serious side of life for everyone involved. Fashion is fun to talk about and senior fashion is especially interesting, fun and eccentric. 

High-Class High-Tops

Me: This is a most endearing concept. The men and women smiling into the camera look stylish and self-assured. I’m always happy to see an older person who is still in the game, making the effort, and looking happy and confident. When you see someone whose picture you’d like to take, how do you approach him or her?

Cass:  We start with a compliment and get right to the point: we want your photograph for a website on senior’s fashion.  At this point, we get a lot of sweet smiles and “no thanks” but sometimes we get an, “Oh! This old thing? I’m a mess today!” followed by a sassy pose.  It’s very simple, very straightforward. Only once or twice have I shamelessly pursued a subject for blocks. 

We want to thank you for taking the time to share with us more information about your wonderful blog Gran-Paparazzi. I invite all of our readers to visit your site today and perhaps consider the contest, too. Be sure to take a coffee with you when you visit so you can spend some time looking at all of their wonderful pictures!

(all photographs used with permission of Gran-Paparazzi)

Our Mission Statement

“Gran-Paparazzi is a style blog created by a small collective of hobby photographers, journalists and designers. 

Our goal is to create opportunities for intergenerational dialogue.

We focus on elders to convey our reverence for seniors and showcase that old adage about the cyclical nature of fashion.

To understand our approach,try this experiment:

read today’s style guide, head into the streets and notice what your elders are wearing.”