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Who Needs International Fame?

A photo project captures local celebrities from around the world.

Gabriele Galimberti
By Gabriele GalimbertiJun 04, 2015
Gabriele Galimberti
Gabriele Galimberti is an Italian photographer who has spent the last few years working on long-term documentary photography projects around the world, some of which have become books, such as Toy Stories, In Her Kitchen, and Couchsurfing. Gabriele has worked on assignments for international media sites such as Fortune, The Sunday Times, Stern, La Repubblica, and Marie Claire.
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At one point, being an international celebrity seemed to be a considerable accomplishment. Remember John Lennon stating that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus? If you can say one positive thing about the Justin Biebers, Lindsay Lohans, and Kim Kardashians of the world, it’s that they’ve made the absurdity of celebrity worship crystal clear. Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti spent two years traveling through five continents, capturing subjects who wield extraordinary cultural power. Galimberti’s subjects elicit curiosity more than they do prostration. “They are admired, but they are also your neighbors,” says Galimberti. “People talk about them at the bar, and race to offer them a coffee when they enter. They are called by their first name.” In our hyper-connected age of late capitalism, who really wants to be bigger than Jesus, if you can be a local celebrity?

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