posted Monday, March 13, 2023 at 11:00 AM EDT
The 95th Academy Awards were last night. Many fantastic films and talented people were honored. However, instead of focusing on the latest and greatest in cinema, DPReview published a slideshow of six films that feature photography as a narrative element. By the way, the list doesn’t include documentaries about photography and photographers.
Kicking off the list of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film Rear Window. In this movie, a photographer becomes confined to his apartment following a broken leg sustained while photographing a car race. He then uses a telephoto lens to spy on his neighbors from his apartment window, becoming convinced that one of his neighbors has committed murder. The critically acclaimed film was even parodied in a classic The Simpsons episode, “Bart of Darkness.”
A much more modern film, although no less fantastic, is Fernando Meirelles’ City of God Released in 2002 and set in the 1960s and 70s Brazil, the film, based on a true story, centers around a pair of kids who grow up and took very different paths. One became a drug kingpin, while the other worked hard to become a photographer. On the topic of the Oscars, City of God earned four nominations at the 76th Academy Awards. Despite not winning any Oscars, it’s often cited as one of the best films ever.
For horror fans, One Hour Photo is a disconcerting, dark film about a photo technician at a department store’s photo counter. The technician, Seymour, or “Sy, ” played by Robin Williams,” is a warm, friendly man developing customers’ film. Or is he? As he develops film for regular customers over the years, Sy sees families grow and change over time. It’s a level of intimacy that many in the “one-hour photo” era took for granted.
To see the other three featured films, head over to DPReview. Did they miss any of your favorite photography-themed movies? Let us know in the comments below.
Later this year, a new photography-themed film will hit the silver screen. Lee, starring Kate Winslet, focuses on model-turned-war photographer Lee Miller. The late photographer was a war correspondent during World War II. She exposed the many horrors of concentration camps, although at the cost of her well-being over time.
(Via DPReview)
