Celebrity Culture.

Any medium can be viewed as a vehicle for creating a celebrity culture. The famous religious books of the world's faiths are replete with examples of individuals who are well known by the general public. Some of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt set in motion devices to ensure their own fame for centuries to come. Celebrity culture, once restricted to royalty and biblical/mythical figures, has pervaded many sectors of society including business, publishing, and even academia (the scilebrities). With every scientific advance names have become attached to discoveries. Especially for large contributions to humanity, the contributor is usually regarded honourably. Mass media has increased the exposure and power of celebrity. A trend has developed that celebrity carries with it increasingly more social capitalthan in earlier times. Each nation or cultural community (linguistic, ethnic, religious) has its own independent celebrity system, but this is becoming less the case due to globalization.

Lecture aims:

- History of Celebrity

- The relationship between photography/film/TV and celebrity

- The cultural significance of celebrities

- How contemporary identity and celebrity are intertwined 

- Contemporary icons

Julia Marie Cameron:

Julia Margaret Cameron (11 June 1815 – 26 January 1879) was a British photographer. She became known for her portraits of celebrities of the time, and for photographs with Arthurian and other legendary themes.

Cameron's photographic career was short, spanning eleven years of her life (1864–1875). She took up photography at the relatively late age of 48, when she was given a camera as a present.^[1] Although her style was not widely appreciated in her own day, her work has had an impact on modern photographers, especially her closely cropped portraits.

The Artist (2011): Good example of silent movie era and the real beginnings of celebrity culture.

Josephine Baker:

Josephine Baker sashayed onto a Paris stage during the 1920s with a comic, yet sensual appeal that took Europe by storm. Famous for barely-there dresses and no-holds-barred dance routines, her exotic beauty generated nicknames "Black Venus," "Black Pearl" and "Creole Goddess." Admirers bestowed a plethora of gifts, including diamonds and cars, and she received approximately 1,500 marriage proposals. She maintained energetic performances and a celebrity status for 50 years until her death in 1975. Unfortunately, racism prevented her talents from being wholly accepted in the United States until 1973. 

Clark Gable - "King of Hollywood":

William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960) was an American film actor. Though arguably best known for his role as Rhett Butler in the epicGone with the Wind (1939), which earned him his third nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor, he was also nominated for Mutiny on the Bounty(1935), and he won for It Happened One Night (1934). His other notable films include Manhattan Melodrama (1934) and The Misfits (1961).

Starting as a stage actor, Gable appeared as an extra in silent films between 1924 and 1930, and progressed to supporting role with a few films for MGM in 1931. The next year he landed his first leading Hollywood role and became a leading man in more than 60 movies over three decades.

Gable appeared opposite some of the most popular actresses of the time. Joan Crawford, who was his favorite actress to work with, was partnered with Gable in eight films; Myrna Loy worked with him seven times, and he was paired with Jean Harlow in six productions. He also starred with Lana Turner in four features, and with Norma Shearer and Ava Gardner in three each. Gable's final film, The Misfits (1961), paired him with Marilyn Monroe (also in her last screen appearance).

Marilyn Monroe: 

Marilyn Monroe(born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962) was an American actress, model, and singer, who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s and early 1960s.

Andy Warhol begins to comment on this celebrity culture in his work, using Marilyn's face repeated almost as though it is a mask, to be repeated. 

Warhol famous for saying everyone will receive '15 minutes of fame'. 

Celebrities become 'brands':

Celebrities are used to sell. There lives become public, shared by society. Role-models and gossip machines to escape from our own mundane lifestyles. Living through them. Artists have explored this idea since the beginning of celebrity.