Crap Paps: unusual photos of famous faces

THERE is a thrill in spotting a famous face. Some people will play it cool when the hearing excited murmurs that a famous face is close by but most – and I am one – will want to see the star.

My first celebrity spot was Derek Underwood, the Kent and England cricketer. He was sat in a Bournemouth pizzeria with Kent’s Bob Woolmer, the late South African team coach. I was one table over with my dad. It was he who spotted the players. Gesturing at my napkin and silently sliding a pen over towards me, dad thought it would be a good idea if I went and over got their autographs. Back then a signature was considered proof of the meet. I went over. They were charming. I had practically no idea who they were. But, still, I had the proof that I’d met them and that was everything to me and my father.

Nowadays autographs are considered naff. Photos are the thing. And because mobile phones have cameras, and phones are ubiquitous, the star can be snapped at any time. But, then, not everyone wants to be a paparazzo. Not everyone wants to be brash and invasive. So. You take a photo from afar and hope you captured the legend. On the Tumblr Crap Paps, such photographs are recorded.

Who are they. Go to the end of the story to find out:

A. The distance shot snap.