He snaps but never bites

In an era of gotcha paparazzi,party photographer Patrick McMullan is an accommodating guest. He asks permission before taking pictures,and in return,he has what matters: unfettered access....

There are a few fundamental tenets to being a successful New York party photographer. First,dont take a picture of a married mogul wearing leather chaps. And never photograph an heiress if her nipple is showing or if she has passed out after drinking four double vodkas. That is the wisdom of Patrick McMullan,the society chronicler who for three decades has photographed everyone from society matrons to downtown night crawlers and club freaks. Today,gotcha paparazzi get $10,000 for a shot of Russell Crowe throwing a punch or Lindsay Lohan passed out in the back seat of a car. But instead of relenting to the pressure of TMZ and Gawker,McMullan seems like a character from an earlier era.

In some ways,McMullan models himself after Andy Warhola friend from the early 1980s who breezily moved between uptown and downtown,straight and gayas he plays the role of court photographer and affable jester to the moneyed class.

In recent years,PatrickMcMullan. com,his website,has become an online destination for fashion insiders curious about parties they missed,like a recent soiree for The Wooster Group,an art collective,where McMullan snapped,among others,Frances McDormand,Laurie Anderson and Mikhail Baryshnikov. The site,redesigned in 2004,gets as many as a million hits a day,he said. He uses 22 freelance photographers who attend as many as 50 events a week. And McMullan has more ambitions: He hopes to publish his seventh book.

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McMullan chalks up his longevity to,well,not being a jerk. What would you rather have,the technically excellent photographer who scowls and isnt very nice? he asked. Or somebody who is a great guest who takes a lot of pictures thats going to be fun to be around? But perhaps his biggest asset is that the well-to-do trust him to present them in the most flattering light. If a client doesnt like a photograph,McMullan will remove it from his website for a fee. And he always asks permission when taking a picture. He wont photograph you with a double vodka in your hand, said Fargo,a senior Bergdorf Goodman fashion executive.

At 54,McMullan said he never imagined his life to be so,growing up in the 1960s in a working-class neighborhood in Huntington,New York,where his mother still lives. He earned a degree in business from New York University in 1980,but his passion was photography. He declined to say how much he earned. But good party photographers can make as much as $150,000 a year or more,say industry experts.

For his part,McMullan wont change his approach given these more cynical times. Because he has what matters: unfettered access.

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