Check out Stanley Kubrick’s candid photos of… | Little White Lies

Check out Stanley Kubrick’s candid photos of 1940s New York City

05 May 2018

Words by Adam Woodward

A man and a woman in a 1940s-style scene, standing at a table with various items including tissues and jars. The image has a black and white, vintage aesthetic.
A man and a woman in a 1940s-style scene, standing at a table with various items including tissues and jars. The image has a black and white, vintage aesthetic.
A new book presents some 300 images from the filmmaker’s archives.

Long before he became a famous filmmaker, Stanley Kubrick was making a name for himself as a staff photographer for Look Magazine. During a five-year stint at the now defunct lifestyle title, beginning in 1945 when Kubrick was just 17, he captured everyday scenes in and around his native New York City, from sleeping couples on the Subway to a curb-side hotdog vendor to a day in the life of a debutant.

Now these candid photographic essays have been brought together for the first time in a new book, Stanley Kubrick Photographs. Through a Different Lens’, published by Taschen. The book contains around 300 photos from the Look archives, including many previously unseen images as well as original magazine tear sheets.

It’s a rare and fascinating insight into the legendary director’s early career that reveals his already fully-formed humanist sensibility. Take an exclusive peek at a selection of photos below, and read more about the book at taschen​.com

Two people sleeping on a train carriage bench, wrapped in blankets.
Four people sitting on a bench in a garden, reading and talking.
Black and white image of street vendors selling drinks and snacks from a cart on a city street, with a crowd of people gathered around and traffic passing by in the background.
A black and white photograph of a man laughing and sitting at a desk, surrounded by papers.
A woman in a floral dress stands in a cluttered room, surrounded by household items.

You might like