Stanley Kubrick: Drama & Shadows: Photographs 1945-1950: 0000 - Hardcover

Crone, Rainer F.; Schaesberg, Petrus; Stosch, Alexandra Von

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0714844381 ISBN 13: 9780714844381

Publisher: Phaidon Press, 2005

Synopsis

Stanley Kubrick Drama and Shadows is the first publication of early photographs by renowned filmmaker Stanley Kubrick (1928–1999), taken between 1945 and 1950 ― many of them never before seen by the general public. Kubrick made these photographs while he was a staff photographer for the New York–based Look magazine, following his graduation from high school and before he made his first films

Aimed at a broad audience, Stanley Kubrick Drama and Shadows reveals the director’s early experimentations with image composition and his attraction to dramatic, often psychologically intense subjects and narratives that would both become elements of his recognizable style as a director

Divided into four thematic chapters ("Metropolitan Life," "Entertainment," "Celebrities," and "Human Behavior"), this book features a carefully selected group of approximately 350 photographs organized into approximately thirty photographic stories. An insightful introductory essay provides context and examines Kubrick’s photographs in relation to the history of photography

About this title

Review:

'Fascinating' (Crime Time)

Synopsis:

Born in New York City in 1928, Stanley Kubrick began taking photographs when in high school. At sixteen, he sent a photograph he took of a newsstand after President Roosevelt's death to Look Magazine. The publication of the photograph marked the beginning of Kubrick's work for the magazine, which lasted until 1950, when Kubrick made his first 16mm documentary film. During those five years Kubrick completed dozens of photographic reportage assignments in New York City as well as abroad. The resulting thousands of negatives have remained in the archives of Look Magazine ever since. Kubrick's photographs vary in subject, but people are the central focus of attention, as is his commitment to narration. Whether capturing the meditative state of passengers in a series of portraits made in the New York subway, following famous boxer Rocky Graziano on the ring and in intimate moments, portraying the coming of age of socialite Betsy Von Furstenberg, or narrating the tale of a shoe-shine boy in the streets of New York City, Kubrick draws psychological portraits that combine drama, irony, and often mystery, anticipating his trademark cinematic style.

If Kubrick's photographs are fascinating accounts of life in the late 1940s, they are also a major contribution to American photography of that era. At nineteen, Kubrick already had an immense talent in constructing complex compositions in which camera positioning and lighting played a crucial role. The book is introduced by an essay by Rainer Crone, who also edited the selection of photographs for this book. Crone is an expert on Kubrick's photographic work, and has already published a catalogue on this subject (see Related Titles below). An art historian, he gives context and examines Kubrick's photographs in relation to not only his later films but also the history of twentieth-century art and photography. Crone also wrote short introductions to most stories in the book. An invaluable contribution to the history of photography, this book explores how one of the most influential and successful film directors of our time used photography to master visual techniques and cultivate his signature style.

About this edition

• Publisher: Phaidon Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0714844381
• ISBN 13: 9780714844381
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240