Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post

You wouldn’t think Washington, DC has enough sexy people to merit paparazzi. There isn’t really a big market for shots of Paul Ryan getting his haircut. But the Washington Post tells us that is, in fact, the case:

Yes, Washington now has its own homegrown pack of street photographers, a half-dozen or so who make their living selling photos and videos of visiting celebrities to gossip blogs, Web sites and magazines such as People and Us Weekly.

Local photographers have found they can make a great living hunting the haunts of celebrities that come to town to shoot movies or testify on the Hill. And the bonus is there is a lot less competition than in New York and LA, so photographers can make good money. Colin Drummond, the photographer they profiled, makes six figures — and made $50,000 (and counting) from a shot of a visiting Oprah. (OK, the photo also seemed to prove that she has six toes.)

The photographers who work this beat are more aggressive than the press corps Washington is used to, but so far they have not crossed the line into Britney Spears-type stalking. You’d probably get sent to Guantanamo for that, so it’s best not to push it.

“Everybody knows the rules, and to the extent anybody strays from them, we get them in line pretty quickly,” [Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance W.] Gainer says. “The whole thing you see on television — what goes on in New York and L.A. — may occur on the street, but it’s not an issue up here.”

Source: Washington Post