Movies on Photography

If you've been stuck inside for days due to the pandemic, you're probably feeling a little upset about missing out on all the fantastic exhibitions you'd intended to visit at a museum or gallery near you. In a crisis, however, we must band together and do what is best, not only for ourselves but for the larger good by safeguarding others.

Photographers and photography enthusiasts, like everyone else, have been impacted monetarily and morally. In our post What Impact Has the Coronavirus Pandemic on Photographers?, you can discover more about what some of them are going through.

But, even if we can't get out just yet, there are other methods to discover new portfolios and develop our photographic abilities and knowledge, such as reading books, perusing our favourite websites (including All On Photo! ), and watching fiction and documentary films about photography.

In light of this, we've compiled a selection of films and documentaries that you should see. Enjoy!

Everybody Street (2013) by Cheryl Dunn

Cheryl Dunn's film EVERYBODY STREET explores the lives and work of New York's most famous street photographers, including Bruce Davidson, Mary Ellen Mark, Elliott Erwitt, Ricky Powell, and Jamel Shabazz, as well as the extraordinary city that has inspired them for decades. The documentary pays tribute to the spirit of street photography through a cinematic exploration of New York City, and captures the visceral rush, singular perseverance, and at times immediate danger that these artists are known for. It was shot by renowned photographer Cheryl Dunn on both black and white 16mm film and colour HD.

Michanlangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up (1966)

The story follows a day in the life of Thomas (David Hemmings, based on the life of David Bailey), a gorgeous fashion photographer who accidentally photographs a murder.

Steven Shainberg's Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)

Diane Arbus (Nicole Kidman) rejects her rich, well-established family and falls in love with Lionel Sweeney (Robert Downey Jr.), an enigmatic mentor who introduces Arbus to the marginalised individuals who help her become one of the twentieth century's most acclaimed photographers.

The Bang Bang Club (2010) by Steven Silver

A drama based on the true stories of four war photographers who documented South Africa's closing days of apartheid.

Life (2015) by Anton Corbijn

This film tells the story of Dennis Stock's (Robert Pattinson) 1955 LIFE Magazine photo spread of then-rising star James Dean (Dane DeHaan), and provides us with an intimate look at some of Hollywood's most iconic photographs as well as a glimpse into the life of a gifted but disturbed man.

Kodachrome (2017) by Mark Raso

Set during the closing days of the acclaimed Kodachrome picture development method, a son (Jason Sudeikis) and his ailing father (Ed Harris) take the road to reach the Kansas photo lab before it closes its doors for good. For Kodachrome Fans, the Road Ends at a Photo Lab in Kansas, according to a real storey published in the New York Times in 2010.

The Salt of the Earth (2014) by Win Wenders & Juliano Ribeiro Salgado

Sebastio Salgado, a photographer who has spent forty years documenting impoverished societies in far-flung corners of the globe, discusses his life and work.

Ondi Timoner's Mapplethorpe (2018)

From his ascent to stardom in the 1970s to his untimely death in 1989, a look at the life of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe (Matt Smith).

McCullin (2012) by David Morris & Jacqui Morris

McCullin discusses his three-decade career photographing conflicts and humanitarian tragedies on nearly every continent, as well as the photos that have often characterised historic occasions.

Christian Frei's War Photographer (2001)

Film on military photographer James Nachtwey, who is widely regarded as the finest war photographer of all time.

War Photographer (2019) by Boris B. Bertram

The life of photographer Jan Grarup who struggles to balance life in war zones with being the father of four.

John Maloof and Charlie Siskel's Finding Vivian Maier (2013)

A documentary about Vivian Maier, a nanny who achieved a posthumous reputation as one of the most outstanding street photographers thanks to a previously unknown trove of 100,000 images.

The Times of Bill Cunningham (2018) by Mark Bozek

Bill Cunningham, the iconic photographer for the New York Times, is the subject of this feature-length documentary.

Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People (2014)

From the invention of photography to the present, this film examines how African American groups have used the camera as a vehicle for social change. Through modern photographers and artists whose photographs and stories seek to reconcile legacies of pride and shame while giving voice to images long suppressed, forgotten, and hidden from sight, this epic tale artistically weaves between the present and the past.

Woman in Chains (1968) by Henri-Georges Clouzot

Stanislas Hassler's gallery, which is crowded with pieces of startling shapes, colours, and textures, and where shows evolve into media events, is a trailblazer in the evolution of modern art. One of the artists whose sculptures are on display in the gallery is Gilbert Moreau. His wife, Josée, is taken with the stern Stanislas, who spends his free time photographing in an apartment that reflects his refined aesthetic tastes. Stanislas is amassing a collection of photographs that reflect a disturbed nature, in addition to enlarged pictures of calligraphic samples.