Kubrick spent five years as a photographer for Look magazine before he became a director. He joined the magazine at the age of 17. Later, his exhibition was held in the Museum of the City of New York; ‘Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs’, explored Kubrick’s which accompanied by a book of the same name.
“Because of my background in photography, I have been able to quickly figure out the best visual way to photograph or represent a scene on the screen,” the director once said. “But I never start thinking in terms of shots. I first begin thinking of the main intent of the film. After the actors rehearse the scene and achieve a level of reality and excitement, only then do I really look through the viewfinder and try to figure out the best way to put this on the screen.”
He added: “Generally speaking, you can make almost any action or situation into an interesting shot, if it’s composed well and lit well. I’ve seen many films in which interesting camera angles and lighting effects are totally incongruous to the purpose of the scene. When the whole thing is over, you’ve seen a rather interestingly photographed movie that has no effect at all.
“I think aesthetically recording spontaneous action, rather than carefully posing a picture, is the most valid and expressive use of photography.”
Donald Albrecht, the curator of architecture and design at the museum, said: “You cannot look at photographs without knowing he’s going to be a filmmaker.”
Adding: “There were a lot of great photographers at Look and he probably wasn’t the greatest one there, but there was something about Stanley that you just knew he had what it took to get to the next level.”
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