Movies

Free association with Yorgos Lanthimos: The filmmaker on his first photography show

BBG News

To alleviate the pressure during the production of “Poor Things” in Budapest’s soundstages and “Kinds of Kindness” around New Orleans, Yorgos Lanthimos sought relaxation methods.

Known for creating unsettling, thought-provoking films like “Dogtooth,” “The Lobster,” and “The Favourite,” this Oscar-nominated filmmaker ventured into art photography.

During the unveiling of his inaugural gallery exhibition titled “Yorgos Lanthimos: Photographs” at Webber 939 gallery in Los Angeles’ Arts District, the filmmaker expressed a shift in mindset while creating ‘Poor Things’. He said, “A moment of realization struck me – let’s simply appreciate this!” as reported by The Times. The exhibition runs until May 18th.

This urge led to spending nights creating stock photos in a homemade darkroom setup that Lanthimos constructed within his Budapest apartment’s bathroom. Emma Stone, who later earned an Oscar for her role in “Poor Things,” frequently joined him after long hours at the Origo Studios.

According to Lanthimos, we mastered the art of handling both grayscale and colored images. It turned into our form of meditation, our means of unwinding.

Over the weekend, a large number of art enthusiasts and professionals gathered to admire an array of photographs, all made using traditional methods without any digital intervention, displayed on the gallery’s walls, which were adorned with white and red bricks. The majority of these images, taken during the filming of “Kindness,” are primarily black and white, depicting actor Oscar Isaac (Stone), his co-star Jesse Plemons, and occasionally residents of Louisiana, posing in a way that their faces are either hidden or turned away from the camera. These photographs can be found in the book titled “I Shall Sing These Songs Beautifully.

In the rear section of the gallery, a tri-dimensional dark display case showcases vibrant color scenes and timeless black-and-white portraits from “Poor Things.” These latter photographs were captured using traditional methods, employing Ilford HP5 film inserted into a Chamonix 4×5 camera made of wood and carbon fiber. The same images can also be found in another art book titled “Dear God, the Parthenon Is Still Broken.” This collection includes pictures of co-star Margaret Qualley with paint splatters on her face, Stone portrayed as Bella Baxter in Victorian clothing next to a car, and a coffee cup and foam food container, as well as a beautifully colored seascape on a soundstage with a dormant fog machine in front of it.

In the movie, the debris of the destroyed Baxter home set appears exceptionally poignant. It seems as if a tornado swept through it, captured vividly by Lanthimos’ camera. Although these images may suggest that the director is critiquing his own work using another medium, he actually had no such intention in mind.

Lanthimos asks, “Could I possibly capture something unique here, a fresh viewpoint contrasting with what’s shown in the movie, using my photography?” This director, who honed his basic camera skills at film school in Athens, also took publicity shots for his initial Greek films when they couldn’t afford set photographers.

He mentions another benefit: the freedom to explore places rarely seen during filming, even corners that typically go unnoticed by viewers. In the production of ‘Poor Things,’ all locations were constructed sets. He had the opportunity to venture behind and atop these sets, witnessing the construction and destruction process. This was both visually and emotionally intriguing for him. To build entire houses just for filming purposes, only to see them torn down later, is quite intense.

During the “Kindness” photoshoot, the photographer opted for a unique approach, steering his Mamiya 7 or Pentax 6×7 camera away from the actual filming locations to instead capture genuine moments – or a melancholic echo of them – outside the movie’s setting.

A woman dressed in white stands near an empty roadside, her gaze fixed on something distant over a strip of green. The silhouette of a power pole cuts through her figure from top to bottom.

Michael Mack, from his London publishing company, notes that the image, much like exceptional still photography, subtly conveys a story beyond its boundaries and subject matter. He describes it as having an intrigue that leaves one pondering about what the scene is, what events led to it, and why the woman is present. This sense of mystery prompts the viewer to imagine various scenarios, which mirrors his filmmaking approach in a way. The image stirs up thoughts, whether they are welcomed or not.

In films like “The Lobster,” Lanthimos’ visuals of New Orleans depart from the typical expectations for such a project. He refrains from offering interpretations on how they should be understood.

He explains that he’s unable to do it at the moment since it’s primarily about discovery and unearthing new perspectives. Essentially, he’s asking, “What other fascinating aspects of this world might we uncover?” or “In what unique ways can we perceive this world?

He explains that he recently found pleasure in tinkering, “Experimenting with capturing a scene under the cover of night, then gazing up at a tree, envisioning how it would appear if I illuminated it, revealing intricacies that were previously invisible to my eyes.

In the process of shooting “Bugonia,” Lanthimos used his camera, with both Stone and Plemons as co-stars. Whether they will feature in another novel or display is uncertain, but he’s confident that this fresh avenue for creativity will endure.

In Lanthimos’ words, “This camera work allows for a more relaxed connection,” implying a less strict adherence to the storyline. “It’s something I find appealing because it allows for photography that isn’t as heavily reliant on the narrative.

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2025-04-07 13:31

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