Hunting Lights in the Shadows : Memoirs of a Paparazzo - Juan Carlos Teuma

Butlers and receptionists on the payroll, the infiltration of high society soirees, international connections, patience, skill, stealth and the ability to think on his feet. No, this is no spy or international man of mystery, though his knowledge of various languages and cultures did get him ahead. He's no detective or P.I. either, but he spent decades flushing out people who did not want to be found. 

This is the story of the first paparazzi outside of Italy, when cameras still had some respect for the intimacy of those they shot, and stayed out of their faces, out f their days off and relaxation, and simply snapped them from afar. This is the story of Juan Carlos Teuma, Gibraltarian Paparazzi.

Brought up in Tetuan, Morocco, as well as the tiny British colony of Gibraltar, Juan Carlos settled in Marbella during the early seventies, just as things were starting to warm up. The sleepy fishing town of the Costa del Sol had for years been a staple resort o Spanish celebrities, but as the Spanish economy started opening itself up to tourism, a whole new wave of international jet-setters began to arrive . . . and party.

The Spanish press at the time was still very much under the control of the dictatorship. Personalities were photographed at events or parties, but always under protocol, with formality and of course, permission. However, as the economy and the country opened up to the outside world, the scene began to change, things began to lighten and while the press of old still wriggled in the same stuffy suits that old men wore in the high offices of Madrid, Juan Carlos from the Rock, where Beatles could blast and people could vote, had just the right amount of audicity to break in and do what nobody else was doing.

That was half a life ago, since then he's been everywhere from Miami to Moscow and snapped some if the most iconic shots of everyone from Liz Taylor to Brad Pitt. He has smuggled negatives, sneaked past international borders on speedboats, crossed jungles and found friendship galore in colleagues and targets alike. These are his pictures made word.