Depiction of photographers in movies/TV

[snusmumriken]

Mr Jones. I haven't seen it yet, but it's on my list.

Further to this, I have now watched the film. It’s a slow but moving film about Stalin’s Soviet Union and the Holodomor in Ukraine, but don’t watch it expecting it to be about photography or a photographer. The camera (a Barnack) appears just twice, very briefly.

 

[pentaxuser]

You might add the 1940 Hitchcock film "Foreign Correspondent" where a raft of press photographers take shots of the Dutch Prime Minister with what appear to be Speed Graphics except that one( the assassin" ) is taking a shot with gun hidden in his hand by a double dark slide also in his hand

The interesting points for me are 1. The authenticity angle i.e. would press photographers have been issued with U.S press cameras?
2. The well thought out scene of a gun hidden by a dark slide was a scene made possible by such large cameras and be ímpossible now or even in the 1960s onwards

The above was first brought to my attention by a former member AgX on another thread several years ago

Oh and its worth a watch as a film if you have never seen it

pentaxuser

 

[jamesaz]

A character in the movie “Putney Swope” by Robert Downey: Mark Focus. A photographer who wore a speed graphic on a strap around his neck. (Scene)Looking for work:
Focus: (showing his portfolio) I did this for G.M. This for IBM. This for CBS.
Swope: I know your work Focus, you’re the best in the business.
They begin negotiating. Eventually Focus says he’ll do it for nothing because “I need the work”

 

[grahamp]

I watched the movie pilot for the 'Ironside' TV series the other day. There's a scene with Ironside asking for his job back (in a restaurant with the Chief of Police) surrounded by a press pack. Everything from 4x5 press cameras to 35mm, and I think an 8mm cine camera. Bizarre. Must have cleaned out the props department!

 

[Pieter12]

I watched the movie pilot for the 'Ironside' TV series the other day. There's a scene with Ironside asking for his job back (in a restaurant with the Chief of Police) surrounded by a press pack. Everything from 4x5 press cameras to 35mm, and I think an 8mm cine camera. Bizarre. Must have cleaned out the props department!

Maybe it was a Bell & Howell 16mm. Newsrooms used those all the time before videotape.

 

[grahamp]

Looked like a Super 8 of some sort. Single lens, pistol grip, long on the axis of the lens, light in colour. That was what was odd - so many cameras that seemed in period but not suitable for the work/conditions. It was just strange (to me).