Top 5 Photography Movies / Videos you need to watch
Hi friends! I've put together a list of my favourite photography related movies & documentaries. They are longer form type movies & documentaries (shorter form top 5 coming soon).
Not all of them are specifically about photography, but they will definitely inspire your adventurous and creative spirits! Check the list below:
1. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (above)
Be warned. You will feel strong urges to quit your day job and set off on an indefinite adventure after watching this movie. Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) is stuck in a endless office job rut, with his mind constantly wandering off on (daydreams) adventures. I'd bet this movie played a significant role in boosting Iceland's tourism traffic (there is a super iconic long boarding scene).
Sean Penn's character also drops one of the strongest (creative / photography) quotes of the year in the movie that I'm sure you've read a million times in Instagram captions. Look out for it!
2. Into the wild
We've all experienced day's where we'd give anything to throw in the towel, sell all our belongs, and just disappear into the wilderness. Chris, does exactly this. The movie is actual based on a real story. Jon Krakauer (with the help of Sean Penn) tracked down as much of Chris' story as they could and put this awesome movie together.
It's by far one of my most favourite movies of all time.
3. everybody Street (DOCO)
One of the better doco's I've found on street photography. This doco interviews and profiles some of the photography OG's in and around New York. The lifestyle & culture is captured pretty well. I feel it does a great job in reminding / educating us about the roots of photography. I don't think photographers these days are as tough and savvy as they were back in the film days.
If you like true / street photography, you should check this doco out.
4. Finding Vivian Maier (DOCO)
The story of Vivian Maier is extraordinarily fascinating. She more or less lived most her life as a relative nobody - a reclusive nanny which on the surface, seemed to have lived a very ordinary / uninteresting life before passing away in an accident. That was until, someone by pure luck, purchased her extraordinary stash of photos and undeveloped film rolls at a storage locker auction. They soon discovered how brilliant she was as a street & documentary photographer once they developed her film rolls.
It was from then, the hunt was on to find out who she really was (as well as to try and find the remainder of her existing work). Definitely check this doco out. It is amazing how she wasn't discovered whilst she was alive - she would have definitely found fame and fortune (if she ever wanted that).
5. Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry (DOCO)
The last in the list is a documentary about Ai Wei Wei, a controversial, and hugely talented artist from China. Although he isn't exactly a photographer, I feel most creatives will be able to relate to his oppression and struggles. We all face challenges and haters who will try and tell us otherwise, yet it is important to ignore those distractions and continue to pursue what makes us happy.
In Ai Wei Wei's case, the oppression he faced was from the full weight of an entire country - one of the world's superpowers. His past and story is an impressive one.
That's it for now! Hope you enjoy these picks. Let me know what you think of them, and if I missed any great movies & doco's on this list.
You can find me on Instagram @itchban