Brangelina? Don't Be So Sure

Jan. 3, 2007 — -- Are the rich and famous really just like the rest of us? The paparazzi go to great lengths to catch celebrities doing ordinary things, but most photos of celebrities still capture only the staged moments -- the beautiful and flawless -- in their lives.

British photographer Alison Jackson, though, has built her career documenting private moments even the most intrepid members of the paparrazzi couldn't catch, such as a snapshot of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom sitting not on her throne, but on a toilet reading a newspaper.

Looking through Jackson's portfolio, anyone might wonder how she's received such unprecedented access to one of the most private families in the world. But on second look, it's clear her royal images aren't what they seem.

Jackson has made a career out of using celebrity look-alikes to comment on celebrity culture. She said she photographs what's already in our own imaginations.

But her photos don't come without controversy.

When the shot of the queen on the toilet was published a few years ago, it caused a huge uproar. "The queen on the toilet is a very British thing," Jackson said. "The saying is that you can't imagine the queen going to the loo, so I've made an image where I've sort of addressed that."

Jackson said she's not poking fun at the queen, and she actually has great respect for her. She said that what she's "messing with" is the public's fascination with people they don't even know.

Jackson said celebrities aren't giving us the whole truth, and when that's combined with photography, the truth can get lost. "I think the very nature of photography, because of its seductive powers, exploits us," she explained. "We think it's telling a truth, but it is not. It's telling a partial truth."

Jackson wasn't a big follower of the comings and goings of her country's royal family. That's why her reaction to the death of Princess Diana stunned her so.