Just curious if anyone has a favorite. I just recently watched Rock Prophecies (about photographer Robert Knight) and found it to be rather good. Recommendations?
Best Photography related Documentary film?
(39 posts) (19 voices)-
Posted 2 years ago #
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"War Photographer". This is a documentary about James Nachtwey. Very good portrait I think.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Another vote for War Photographer. I'd like to see some more suggestions, I was asking myself just the same question the other day.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Great idea for a thread. I'll have to check those out. I'm always looking for a good documentary.
I watched a pretty good one on Netflix from National Geographic last year called The President's Photographer. That looks like a stressful but rewarding job. It would be so amazing to have the kind of access they're given.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Personally I like the BBC short series "The Genius of Photography", which is an interesting look at the history of photography, although it is highly abridged since it ignore a lot of important movements.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Correlli said:
"War Photographer". This is a documentary about James Nachtwey. Very good portrait I think.jonnyapple said:
Great idea for a thread. I'll have to check those out. I'm always looking for a good documentary.I watched a pretty good one on Netflix from National Geographic last year called The President's Photographer. That looks like a stressful but rewarding job. It would be so amazing to have the kind of access they're given.
Both great documentaries. Nachtwey has big balls. I wish they did an updated documentary on him after he did Iraq. I remember reading he was injured by a grenade.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I have always be partial to Robert Mann's Ansel Adams documentary film. His use of the zonal system and of course his images ohhhhhh his images...
"Art is the affirmation of life."
Ansel Adams
1985'Posted 2 years ago # -
Yes, indeed a very good idea for a thread.
There is also a series of portraits called "Contacts". Very good!!! They show the contact sheets of very well known photographers (like Cartier-Bresson and Newton) and explain the "development" of famous images. I only saw about ten of them, but I just saw that there is a DVD box with 33 portraits.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Hi,
The Presidential doc and and would like to see the Nachtwey film, though having been in a burning building (repeatedly), I think you have to be a bit off to 'want' to go back in (over time), no matter how interesting and meaningful the work is that comes of it.
I knew Ansel. I'm sure others on this forum did, too, and he was a hoot. He was clear as to what he represented to photography. Some folks get the wrong idea about him and technology. He used 35mm cameras a Polaroid and microwave to dry his prints. I have _zero doubt_ he would be doing digital photography -likely would have written the first book.
My best,
Mike
Posted 2 years ago # -
It's neither a single documentary, or 'the best'... but there's a 6-part BBC series from 1983 called "Master Photographers" that is quite interesting. Each part covers a single photographer (Alfred Eisenstaedt, Bill Brandt, Andreas Feininger, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Andre Kertesz, Ansel Adams) and in each case the photographer is interviewed in their home, in an informal way (often just browsing through piles of prints and discussing the circumstances of their creation). All six were, arguably, patriarchs of photography, having had long, productive productive careers and in a few cases cases these interviews took place only a year or two (in once case, months) before their deaths. Some of the episodes drag a bit in places, but overall the series is worth hunting down (sadly, it is not available on DVD, but there are downloads to be found and several episodes are on YouTube as well).
Posted 2 years ago # -
Mike writes:
>> I knew Ansel. I'm sure others on this forum did, too, and he was a hoot. He was clear as to what he represented to photography. Some folks get the wrong idea about him and technology. He used 35mm cameras a Polaroid and microwave to dry his prints. I have _zero doubt_ he would be doing digital photography -likely would have written the first book.
Mike, I get that impression in nearly every book, documentary, article or interview I've ever seen or read, and I envy anyone who got to speak with or study under the guy. Sadly, when I was in college in the early 70's, Ansel's name was invoked in the art department with the same derisive tone as Norman Rockwell's (and not just by fellow students). I'm not sure people ever really appreciated what a forward-thinker he was, how he embraced innovation and allowed his inquisitiveness and almost child-like curiosity to guide him. I agree, if he was alive today, he'd be hip-deep in digital.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Hmm ill have to watch War photographer. I also wanted to add, I saw Shooting Robert King (another war photographer, youngest Pulitzer Prize winner) and The Devil Came on Horseback (genocide in Darfur). Shooting Robert King was "better" but DCH is rather compelling.
Also, you can watch SRK on youtube and DCH is on netflix.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I vote for "Smash His Camera", the 2010 story of America's original papparazzo, Ron Galella. The guy is hated by the rich and famous but he also has an impressive photographic record of them too—a collection that increases in historical value by the day. The film is excellent, funny, informative and has lots of hidden details familiar to photographers . . . mountains of yellow Kodak photo-paper boxes holding millions of prints, etc. etc. etc. You can just about smell his darkroom. Great movie.
Posted 2 years ago # -
If you're in New York on March 23rd go see the Premiere(?) of this movie about Bill Cunningham.
He reminds me so much of a "young" NikoDoby :^)
Posted 2 years ago # -
Wideangle said:
I vote for "Smash His Camera", the 2010 story of America's original papparazzo, Ron Galella. The guy is hated by the rich and famous but he also has an impressive photographic record of them too—a collection that increases in historical value by the day. The film is excellent, funny, informative and has lots of hidden details familiar to photographers . . . mountains of yellow Kodak photo-paper boxes holding millions of prints, etc. etc. etc. You can just about smell his darkroom. Great movie.Oh I forgot that one. That's a good one too. I also recommend it.
Posted 2 years ago # -
"He reminds me so much of a young NikoDoby :^)"
:-)
Posted 2 years ago # -
Yes I agree Ansel Adams would have loved digital I think. All the hours he spent in the darkroom will decades of film post processing (dodging and burning) he would have loved photoshop I think. I wonder which body he would have used? I love watching anything about him on any documentary.
Posted 2 years ago # -
jerl said:
Personally I like the BBC short series "The Genius of Photography", which is an interesting look at the history of photography, although it is highly abridged since it ignore a lot of important movements.Oh yes - I stumbled into that online a month or so ago. A very opinionated view in places about what is "important" in the history of photography.
Perhaps better about documenting the very earliest days but less so about more recent trends?
Posted 2 years ago # -
I just saw Smash His Camera. I give that a thumbs up as well. (You have to love netflix :p) Also, I watched Born into Brothels. Its about children of prostitutes learning photography as an escape from the same fate as their parents, in Calcutta.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Just watched "The President's Photographer" (it's for free in the video section of PBS). Really good documentary. I did not even know that there is such a thing as a personal photographer for the President of the US. If I understood correctly they are not allowed to delete any of the images he takes. They need a really good archival software...
Posted 2 years ago # -
Many heads of state have official photographers. Even the Pope has one. I remember watching a documentary on it. Gianni Giansanti was the Vatican's official photog for many years. He passed away just last year or the year before. I'm not sure who the current photog for the Pope is now. Stefano Spaziani, maybe? Not sure if the Vatican is officially sponsored by Nikon but I've only seen them use Nikon gear... amen.
Some of Gianni Giansanti's work can be viewed here:
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1886474,00.htmlPosted 2 years ago # -
Just watched War Photographer, and I'm feeling exceptionally insignificant. Good documentary.
Posted 2 years ago # -
NikoDoby said:
Not sure if the Vatican is officially sponsored by Nikon but I've only seen them use Nikon gear... amen.Some of Gianni Giansanti's work can be viewed here:
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1886474,00.htmlLMAO! Also, do you happen to recall the name of that documentary? I would love to watch that one.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Funny enough, I just noticed James Nachtwey shares the same birthday as me today. I was on NNDB and he popped up in birthdays. Strange coincidence. I already put War Photographer in the Netflix cue. I'll be checking your other choices too. I enjoyed Smash His Camera
Posted 2 years ago # -
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