The Oscars 2017 is just around the corner, so I’ve spent a couple of nights last week trying to make up for the nominated movies I haven’t seen. Generally, if I like the movie and the actors’ performance, I often wish to learn something more about them after the movie is over. This is how I discovered one of them is equally good behind the camera as he is in front of it.
But I didn’t stop there. I wanted to find out more, and discover more actors and actresses who enjoy photography. Eventually, I came up with a list of 10 great actors and actresses who love the camera as much as it loves them. After sharing the list of 10 musicians who rock behind the camera, here is my list of actors and actresses who express themselves through photography.
Leonard Nimoy
Apart from being an actor, Leonard Nimoy was a film director, author, singer, songwriter, and photographer. The legendary actor got interested in photography when he was a child. He developed his own prints and even made his own camera at the age of 13. In the early 1970s, he studied photography at UCLA. It was after Star Trek and Mission: Impossible because at this time he considered changing careers.
Leonard Nimoy’s photographs are included in many museum collections, and he issued several photographic books. Some of them are Shekhina, The Full Body Project, and Secret Selves. Personally, I really love his work. It’s profound, provocative, and sometimes disturbing, and if you like this sort of photography, you can check out more of his work here.
I took this pic of my grandfather with my first camera. Made the print myself. LLAP pic.twitter.com/paowZ37Lee
— Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) April 25, 2014
Gina Lollobrigida
Gina Lollobrigida is one of the highest-profile actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was famous for her beauty and considered an international sex symbol at the peak of her career.
As her acting career slowed down, she took more and more interest in sculpting and photojournalism. Eventually, she became a very appreciated photojournalist. She photographed Paul Newman, Salvador Dalí, Henry Kissinger, Audrey Hepburn, Ella Fitzgerald – to name just a few. She has also issued several photography books. If you would like to see her work, you can do it on her website.
Gary Oldman
This charming English actor is best known for his movies, but he is also very passionate about different sorts of film photography. If you read DIYP regularly, then you have probably come across this article about Ian Ruhter and Gary Oldman creating the largest ambrotype in the world.
Gary Oldman has exhibited his work in different galleries, and it’s his fellow actor Jeff Bridges who got him interested in photography. If you’d like to see some of his work, you can do it here.
Jeff Bridges
Other than being an actor, Jeff “The Dude” Bridges is also a photographer. He has been doing photography since high school, and among his work, you will find lots of photos from film sets. He began this during the filming of Starman, and his photos are atmospheric and to me personally – very interesting. He uses Widelux F8 panoramic film camera, and he even got Gary Oldman interested in it. He has issued a book named Pictures by Jeff Bridges, and you can find out more about it and his photographic work on his website.
Viggo Mortensen
This is the actor responsible for the start of my research. After watching
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