The news of Heath Ledger’s untimely death is startling, to say the least. (I think the respectful reaction is ‘OMFG’, courtesy of Defamer).

But for a lot of people, the weirdness will really set in after the July 2008 scheduled release of The Dark Knight, the highly anticipated sequel to Batman Begins and, as it happens, the last project Ledger fully completed.

The media frenzy over his death — it reflects so much of what’s wrong with tabloid/paparazzi coverage of celebrities — reminded me of last summer, when Dorothee and I spent a little time watching the film’s production here in Chicago.

We were at Upper Wacker Drive and Wells Street, watching a pyrotechnic-filled chase sequence unfold on Lower Wacker Drive. There was this scruffy fat guy standing next to us with a massive telephoto lens and digital camera, snapping photos of the action. He turned around to show off the fruits of his labor: super high-resolution photos of The Joker’s swerving semi truck that would end up on TMZ.com and newspapers like the RedEye.

The guy started flipping through the digital photo library on his camera, showing off his most prized snapshots. There were a few shots of director Christopher Nolan working with the actors. (Cool enough.) Then there were some shots of Christian Bale on Michigan Avenue with his wife. (Nothing too unusual.)

And then he showed us some photos of Nolan, Bale, and Heath Ledger inside the Michigan Ave. apartment building they were inhabiting for the summer. (Sounds interesting.)

He then tells us: “Check it out. I got some photos of him in the bathroom.” (Say again?) “The bathroom in the apartment building’s lobby — I waited in a stall for like 2 hours and then Heath Ledger comes in there.” (Oh, don’t tell me you…) “I took a shot of him washing his hands.” (Creepy.)

I was just amazed he didn’t get pulverized by Ledger, but it turned out this dude had hundreds more photos of Ledger and his co-stars around Chicago. Incredibly, Ledger didn’t freak out. According to the photog, he even told him he’d see him around.

Needless to say, we moved the hell away from him as soon as the next explosion went off (yes, quite the smooth getaway). But it was enough to make me never want to talk to a paparazzo again.

It’ll certainly be a weird experience watching Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. Then again, I guess it could be weirder.

Photo by Howie Berlin.

Check out some Chicago production photos from The Dark Knight. NOTE: This is not the same photographer we talked to!!!