What's with the Paparazzi?

“SDGossipScene is more than understanding when it comes to respecting other’s requests,” says website operator Felicia Canales, “but we find it mind-boggling that photographers, who all supported SDGossipScene, would pull out all at the same time.”

According to Canales, her site covering the local club scene was contacted by five photographers “asking to please stop usage of their photos due to it conflicting with their photography.… SDGossipScene is currently on pause until other actions can be taken.”

Canales’s final post on the website blames one particular photog for the boycott, calling it a “personal attack from Ben DeCamp.… [We] had a fight after [my] trip to L.A. to talk to producers about a possible SDGossipScene reality show.”

The two subsequently had a Facebook battle that included publicly posted messages from DeCamp. “You’re getting imagery for free. Perez [Hilton] pays tens of thousands of dollars for an image.… This is serious business for me, the other photographers, the DJs, and the bar owners. A lot of people talk behind your back, but I’m not like that. I’m telling you right now, you are not going to fuck this up for me.

“I can’t have my photos published on your website anymore. I’m getting a lot of complaints from the scenester girls I photograph and it’s conflicting with my brand.”

Canales says that her reposted photos from other websites can benefit both photogs and venues. “Without club-photography, you can’t be seen.” She hopes to restart the website by bypassing photog permissions altogether. “Club promoters [and] owners can release club photos to SDGossipScene, since they pay the photographer for club photos.”