Hard to imagine the filmmaker behind The Shining (1980) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) being a teenage photojournalist who took pictures ranging from celebrities to candid portraits of New Yorkers travelling on the subway system but that is exactly what happened. At the age of 17, Stanley Kubrick worked for Look magazine initially as a freelancer and subsequently as a staff member.
Philippe Mather who is an associate professor of media studies at Campion College at the University of Regina was so fascinated by the period that spans from 1945 to 1950 that he has published Stanley Kubrick at Look Magazine: Authorship and Genre in Photojournalism and Film. “This book’s guiding thesis is that the Look magazine photographs can shed light on the aesthetic and ideological factors that shaped the development of Kubrick’s artistic voice, as well as our own understanding of his later film work,” writes Mather in the introduction of the academic publication which is divided into two parts with the first being Authorship: A Sociology Production and the second Genre: Concepts of Reception.
Photographs are inserted to illustrate the creative influences which latter appeared in Day of the Fight (1951) and Killer’s Kiss (1954). It is too bad that there are not more images as they provide a dramatic connection between the young photographer and the two-time Academy Award nominated director. Philippe Mather goes into great deal exploring what it was like working for Look magazine in an effort to give a reader the proper context; he has also been able to uncover some interesting quotes from Stanley Kubrick himself. “This experience was invaluable to me, not only because I learned photography, but also because it gave me a quick education in how things happen in the world. To have been a professional photographer was obviously a great advantage for me.” Kubrick believed, “If I had gone to college I would never have become a director. I would have wound up in some profession instead – science, law, medicine.”
By exploring the images captured by the teenager standing behind the still photography lens, Stanley Kubrick at Look Magazine brings more into focus the creative decisions made by the filmmaker as an adult.
Originally published April 2, 2013. Updated November 6, 2019.
