BEHIND THE SCENES:

Photographer looks at our fascination with fame

Sun, Feb 7, 2010 (2 a.m.)

The Red Carpet

LAS VEGAS - WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2009 - Wayne Newton appears on the red carpet as a handler reaches for him to move on during the grand opening night of Wayne Newton's Launch slideshow »

On the red carpet, the celebrity is almost secondary. The real draw for me is the event, the other shooters and the otherworldly aura of celebrity culture. I was interested in the scene because of what draws our culture to the rich and famous. They are like modern day Greek gods; we have given them riches and glory in exchange for permission to gawk at them, and if need be, tear them down.

“We are not talking about human beings,” said Lewis Lapham, writer and cultural critic. “But golden masks.”

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