Moscow Outside show. 2008
Photos of the most famous crème de la crème made by the most prominent paparazzo are getting their place in the centre of Moscow for two months. This is going to be the first show of Rino Barillari’s work in Russia and the first outdoor exhibition of the Maestro, initiated by the company marka:ff.The oft repeated story about Fellini thinking up the word “paparazzi” is unfortrunately, not strictly true. Fellini had used the word “paparazzO” and it was the second name of one of the four photo-correspondents in the film “La Dolce Vita”. Later the second name turned into a profession and its last letter “o” was replaced by “i”: according to the rules of Italian, “paparazzo” means only one photo-correspondent while “paparazzi” refers to the plural.The paparazzo image occurred to Fellini after the “raid” of one cheeky Italian photographer who emerged from the bushes to take a picture of the Signore embracing Anouk Aimée.It was Barillari who got out of the bushes. And he is already a legend – feared and loathed in Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cannes: the results of almost 50 years of “celebrity-hunting” – hundreds of unwelcome pictures for celebrities, 76 smashed cameras, 11 broken ribs and 162 trips to the emergency room (these figures are taken from the official web-site of Barillari). In return, he’s achieved the title “The King of Paparazzi” at an official ceremony in 1988 and since then it’s been printed on his business card. Barillari has already been to Russia. In 2005 he was a guest at the opening of an exhibition dedicated to Federico Fellini. Now he is coming as a true hero of the Moscow high life.
