Photographer Jon Furniss gets up close with Jack Nicholson, image © Richard Young

How close the stars do you need to be to get celebrity shots? This close. Jon Furniss is one of just five or six photographers welcomed into the celebrities' lives, shooting behind the scenes at parties and premiers rather than papping them on the street.

Why are they given this access? Because although the celebrities hate harassment, they also need publicity; and while the magazines and newspapers don't want to be sued, they also need to feed the public's seemingly insatiable desire for celebrity shots. The solution is carefully orchestrated reportage, in which strictly-vetted photographers enter into a modern-day gentlemen's agreement to show the stars at their best in return for premium access.

'I always make them look good and I only take photographs when they know I am there and they are happy to be photographed,' says Furniss. 'You build up a relationship with them, and I wouldn't want to be known as the photographer they couldn't trust.'

It's a fascinating cross between freedom and control, and you can read all about it in this week's special report, The Insiders.