Photo Shoot: Stakeout in Cotuit

Paparazzi, the catchy title for pesky photographers chasing celebrities, has its roots in a 1959 Fellini film, “La dolce vita.” The translation from Italian means, the sweet life. Paparazzo was the surname of a photographer in the movie. This type of photography involves a celebrity sighting somewhere and then a stakeout to catch the star, usually acting out in a hostile manner as a strobe goes off in their face, not my idea of how to spend a nice Cape Cod summer Saturday.

But alas, the assignment landed with my name on it.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign had sent out an invitation to supporters telling of a Cotuit fundraiser. The secret location was sent to those when an RSVP and a campaign contribution arrived. Standard procedure this time of year, a week earlier, first lady Jill Biden made stops in Provincetown and Nantucket also on a fundraising swing through the area. In both cases, some simple reporting turned up their locations.

The day before the Cotuit event, I did some surveillance. The host home was visible from Ropes Beach and a driveway off Putnam Avenue would provide a clear view of arriving guests. I assumed the candidate would also head down the same gravel driveway to meet his supporters.

Saturday I set up a mini Times bureau in Ropes Field, conveniently across from the driveway, with an old maple tree for shade. I brought all the technology, laptop, Wi-Fi hot spot, drone for aerials and a towel-covered crate for seating. A handful of protesters were milling about at my 10 a.m. arrival, the event was to start at noon. A photo freelancer friend that we’ll call Paparazzi #2 headed to the airport to get the candidate’s jet arrival, which turned out to be the only photo the Times got of him.

Waiting for a celebrity

As Paparazzi #1, I took up a position by the driveway as the group of protestors steadily increased. We all waited for DeSantis to arrive, a Cotuit friend mentioned the property had a loop road that did offer another entry point much farther up Putnam. I checked it out, but it was so far away from the gathered group it would not have made much of a photo of just passing cars zipping by into the compound.

At 12:50 p.m., #2 texted to say he had a photo of the arrival and a three-car motorcade was headed our way with the candidate on the passenger’s side of the SUV. I took up a position and waited and waited.

By 1:40 it was obvious DeSantis had arrived based on the movements of the security teams. The protestors headed to Ropes Beach to chant up the hill toward the house hosting the event. A couple of photos later, I gave up the hunt and sent out my final images, a long day for this paparazzo, and hopefully no more politics this summer.

Steve Heaslip is the Times' chief photographer. Contact him at sheaslip@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter/X: @cctphoto.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Photo Shoot: Covering national politics not an easy task on Cape Cod