In photography, especially in photojournalism where the subject and situation might disappear in the blink of an eye, the first rule for photographers is to get close. The second rule is to get closer. These rules aren't always possible to follow, more so when it comes to politicians and other celebrities, but this random guy dude managed to deliver, and then some. A few years ago, one incredibly lucky, random guy crashed into an Oscars party, took amateur pictures with celebrities, and lived to tell the tale.
Reddit is an online repository of links to other websites, pictures, videos and the like. Users can submit links to the website, and users can vote these submissions up or down, depending on their content. Because of the large scale of this website, links can be submitted to different categories or "subreddits". One of the largest subreddits is r/pics where users can submit links to interesting images.
About a week ago, user Fiend1138 submitted an album of over a dozen pictures that were taken at an 2004 and 2005 Oscars party with Hollywood A-listers, a party which he managed to crash into, or so he says. This random dude claims that he worked for the company that helped organize the party. Since he had access to the site, including the day of the event, he changed into a suit, walked into the party, and acted like he belonged there. The resulting pictures looks like he actually does belong with these celebrities.
Aside from the impressive fact that he managed to have his picture taken with some of the most famous actors in the world, this guy also shares a few stories about his encounters with these celebrities, from Mel Gibson's effortless pick-up technique, to how hammered some of the celebrities were.
In one of the more intense moments that night, a man riding a motorcycle sped through the rear-entrance security, got surrounded by county sheriffs, and took off his helmet to reveal a smiling Tom Cruise. Overall, he says that the actors were all pretty "cool" about the whole thing, no doubt with a little help from the open bar that night.
These photographs are amazing on their own, but the way they were captured and presented online makes them even more interesting. The on-camera, direct flash highlights only the celebrities and this random guy, giving them a very amateur feel. In some cases, the beauty (or un-beauty) of the celebrities are made even more apparent because of the harsh lighting. To top it all off, the scratches, dirt, uneven alignment, and harsh contrasts done through the scanning process makes them even more "ordinary", albeit with a twist.
When asked what compelled him to just crash an Oscars party, he just said to himself, "F*ck it, when am I ever going to be able to do this again?" While it's probably not the safest nor the smartest philosophy, his self-confidence got him some of the most amazing amateur photographs of these Hollywood celebrities.
This post is no way encouraging anyone to randomly crash a Hollywood party, much less an Oscars after party, but it's remarkable what a little self-confidence (and a camera) can capture. The full album of this lucky guy with a few other celebrities can be found here. More details can be found in this Reddit thread.
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