Street photography: Stanley Kubrick

Many people don’t know that Stanley Kubrick was a great street photographer before becoming a famous movie director. He directed masterpieces as 2001 A space odissey, Shining, Full Metal Jacket, A clockwork orange, Barry Lindon, Eyes wide shut and so on… Kubrick is absolutely one of my favourite director. I love his way of filming, for example how he used wide-angle lens, the perspective, the point of view but also the camera movements, the use of color and light in scene…

Here are some examples of perspective in Kubrick’s movie. Look how the wide-angle emphasizes the perspective of the scene. The converging escape lines create dynamism and depth of the image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now look at some particular point of views in these frames extracted from his movies:

 

 

 

 

 Stanley Kubrick: street photography

As i said before Kubrick has been also a great street photographer. I like everything about his street shots, both the composition than also his poetic view of everyday life. He was only 17 years old when he started to photograph for Look magazine producing wonderful portfolios of street pictures. When i look to Kubrick’s images i think he has nothing to envy to the famous masters of street photography. But after I’ve discovered that some pictures are posed and this is not spontaneous street photography for me but scenes look awesome! I’ve posted here some of his best shots taken on the Street.

Look at the wonderful perspective in these first three photos:

 

 

Kubrick’s pictures are poetic and exciting. There is life inside. There is a beautiful melancholy as the following photos show:

 

 

 

 

 

He tried also different point of view, here from below:

An artistic selfie in front of mirror:

Street photos taken by Stanley Kubrick have strong compositions, but also the content is good. These shots are rich in emotions and poetry, a rarity in the modern street photography. If i have to compare Kubrick’s street photography to another master I’ll say that his style is similar to Vivian Maier’s one.

At the end of this article I want to tell you a small curiosity. Here is a photo taken by the Magnum photographer Diane Arbus that probably inspired Kubrick for two famous characters in Shining: the twins.

 

Stay well, have always light in your life

Best, F.S

 

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