Stanley Kubrick Drama & Shadows: Photographs 1945-1950

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

• ISBN13: 9780714844381
• ISBN10: 0714844381
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-12-01
• Publisher: Phaidon Press

Summary

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 F++rstenberg, 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.

Author Biography

Rainer Crone holds the Chair for 20th-Century Art and Media at the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich.

Table of Contents

Cinematography: A Prologue	p. 3
Foreword	p. 6
Kubrick's Epic Pictures as Parables	p. 7
Metropolitan Life	p. 14
Studies in the Subway	p. 16
Chicago: City of Social Contrasts	p. 30
Myths of a Paddy Wagon	p. 44
Johnny Grant's Adventures Reporting for Radio in New York	p. 52
A Tale of a Shoe-Shine Boy	p. 56
Kids Fighting in the Street	p. 70
Entertainment	p. 74
The World's Biggest Spectacle: A Circus Run by a Family	p. 76
Jazz Is Hot Again: Dixieland in New York	p. 98
Framing a Showgirl's Daily Life	p. 106
Showtime at the Copacabana	p. 112
Dancing in High Button Shoes	p. 118
Shadows Speaking	p. 122
Traveling in Portugal	p. 126
Aqueduct Racetrack: Hope, Despair, and Habit	p. 132
Amusements in the Palisades Park	p. 146
Celebrities	p. 154
Intimate Scenes with Leonard Bernstein	p. 156
Dailies of a Rising Star: Betsy von Furstenberg	p. 162
The Young Montgomery Clift: A Conflicted Soul	p. 168
World Sport Boxing's Two Mythic Heroes: Rocky Graziano	p. 172
World Sport Boxing's Two Mythic Heroes: Walter Cartier	p. 182
Human Behavior	p. 192
Observing People Observing Monkeys	p. 194
Looking at Art in New York	p. 198
Dogs in the City	p. 202
Observations on Park Benches	p. 206
Personalities of the Circus	p. 208
Scenes from a Handwriting Analysis Booth	p. 214
A Baby's First Time Facing a Mirror	p. 218
Columbia University in New York City	p. 222
A Curious Event at the Natural History Station	p. 230
New York City Street Portraits	p. 232
Artists in the New Center of the Art World	p. 238
Stanley Kubrick: Inventor of Facts	p. 242
Beyond the Looking Glass: Kubrick and Self-Reflectivity	p. 246
Notes	p. 250
Selected Readings	p. 251
Filmography	p. 252
Index	p. 254
Author Acknowledgments/Photo Credits	p. 255
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