Famed veteran paparazzo Ron Galella has been shooting Madonna for more than 20 years, capturing her rise from pop starlet to superstar in the '80s and just about every one of her many reinventions ever since. To celebrate Madge's 53rd birthday today (Aug. 16), we're taking a look back at her life in the limelight by having Galella himself take us on a guided tour. Check out some of his special snaps of the Material Girl and her famous friends -- just a taste of the hundreds he's shot of her.

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Madonna With Sean Penn

Sean Penn and Madonna at New York's Lincoln Center leaving rehearsals for "Goose and Tom Tom," Aug. 20, 1986

Ron Galella: "They left one of the rehearsals and walked to their apartment on 55th street. The photographers were shooting and [Sean Penn] cursed at us and blocked Madonna. A few weeks later they came out of the theater and walked to the Ginger Man on the corner of the same block where they lived, west 55th street. They had dinner and walked to their apartment. There were about five paparazzis shooting. Sean Penn got angry and said, "You're on private property now," and started spitting at my nephew and I. He started boxing with my nephew but nobody got hurt. They were just boxing. Madonna went to the apartment door and started yelling, "Stop, stop," pleading with the photographers to stop shooting. Finally we all stopped. When we were leaving suddenly Sean Penn turned around and socked [photog] Vinnie Zuffante right in the nose, giving him a bloody nose without warning. They picked on him because he was small. [Penn] didn't pick on me. He's a bad boy. He has a temper, and he never was friendly to photographers, always shielding Madonna or himself, putting his cap down over his face. He was always pretty bad. But he was not the worst."

NEXT: Madonna & Michael Jackson At The Oscars