Price then: About $300,000 worldwide
Price today: About $100,000
“The day after we got these exclusive shots set off the wildest week I’ve ever had,” says Brandy Navarre, co-owner of paparazzi agency X17 Inc., who agreed to walk through The Daily Beast through some of the most iconic images their photographers snapped during the boom years, between 2005 and 2007, revealing just how much pricing has changed. “The phone rang non-stop; I spoke to people in almost every country around the globe; and there was literally no client that didn’t want these pictures.”
Price then: About $150,000 worldwide
Price today: About $60,000
“Everyone was shocked to see Lindsay out partying the night after getting a DUI. The media really picked up on these pictures after we posted them on X17online. Our traffic that day was the highest we’ve ever had on the site.”
Price then: $100,000
Price today: About $50,000
“This photo was shot at exactly the moment that media outlets were speculating Lindsay and Nicole might both have eating disorders and then we caught them leaving an event together, both looking super skinny.”
Price then: About $40,000
Price today: About $40,000
“Photos of Brad and Angelina have hardly lost their value, even if these tough financial times. The world is still interested in their every move, particularly where their children are concerned. If they were to adopt another child today, the first images of that child would be worth about as much as they were a few years ago.”
Price then: About $50,000
Price now: About $50,000
“Photos of Paris shopping aren’t exactly a rare commodity, but photos of her getting arrested are. We snapped a few shots of her being handcuffed and put into a patrol car this night when she was pulled over for suspicion of DUI and the images were pretty shocking. No one could believe Paris, their heiress, was being treated this way. I think these shots would sell just as well today as they did back in ‘06.”
Price then: About $25,000
Price today: About $25,000
“Here’s another couple who have staying power — Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Our team in Italy snapped this shot of TomKat out on one of their first dates, just as Cruise’s publicist confirmed the two had been ‘dating for a couple weeks.’ Even today, the domestic and international market for pix of these two is hot, so if the hookup just happened now, I suspect we’d still make quite a killing on photos of their first romantic dinner together.”
Price then: $7,000
Price today: $5,000
“Here’s a sex symbol looking rather average, without makeup while running errands. She seemed a bit upset that we were there to document that moment, but it’s these photos that fans love. Whether stars want to believe it or not—sometimes these images are actually endearing to the fans because they see their favorite stars looking normal and lovely.”
Price then: $10,000
Price today: $6,000
“Magazines loved this shot for their fashion pages because Mary-Kate looks a bit like a hobo with a $2,000 Prada bag on her arm.”
Price then: $6,000
Price now: $4,000
“This is a cute shot but not super important. In general, shots with Reese and her kids are popular with the magazines.”
Price then: $7,000
Price now: $4,000
“There was intense interest in Jessica Simpson after her breakup with then-husband Nick Lachey. She was spending time with her parents and we always saw her looking a bit depressed. Frankly, not much has changed where that’s concerned!”
