From the noteworthy to the mundane, photography has been around for almost 150 years; much of that time, it's been accessible to the general public as a means of keeping a visual record of events, and you can also have these "visual records" as memories on
canvas prints, or give them as
photo gifts.
Although photography is best, perhaps, in its unadulterated state, a story simply told through the eyes of the photographer -- literally -- the public's love affair with photographers themselves has led to much speculation about them and their pursuits. Even moviemakers have gotten in on the action.
Films about photographers have memorialised those who've actually taken up photography as a profession, whether they are based on real people or are fictionalised accounts of the trials and tribulations photographers face.
For example, a famous Alfred Hitchcock film, Rear Window, filmed in 1954, has become a masterpiece of suspense. James Stewart stars as a wheelchair-bound photographer who spies on one of his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced that a murder has been committed. Grace Kelly co-stars as Stewart's character's girlfriend. Not only did this film get nominated for many awards, including Oscars, but it remains a favourite today.
In The Year of Living Dangerously, filmed in 1983, Mel Gibson's character Guy Hamilton is a foreign correspondent who tries to find his way through Indonesia's political unrest during the rule of President Sukarno. His companion, a photographer by the name of Billy Kwan (played by diminutive actress Linda Hunt), is his guide and help during these trials.
In the 2002 movie Road to Perdition, Jude Law plays an assassin who likes to photograph his victims. Imagery was the major player in this movie, supporting strong performances by Law, Tom Hanks as mob hit man, and Paul Newman as his "boss".
A startling performance by comic genius Robin Williams as Seymour Parrish in One Hour Photo puts the "creep" factor in photography. The character has an extreme knowledge of modern photography, but a succession goes beyond simply developing photos. His normal job is as a worker at a one-hour photo lab in a department store, but he takes his skills as a developer and begins to "pursue" one of his customers, a family, by developing and obsessing over their photos. Ultimately, this turns into a kind of stalking case that has you wondering just who may be developing your photos at your own local department store.
These are theatrical examples of great films about photographers, but nothing beats the lure of photography itself, unencumbered. Whether you save them digitally, do so on film, or make them into canvas prints or other lasting photo gifts' choices, photography is an individualised and personal art; all you need is a camera, whether film or digitally based, and your imagination.
More Information:
Find out more on
canvas prints and
photobook on
www.photobox.co.uk. 
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