The exhibition, Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs, opened at The Museum of the City of New York, featuring more than 120 photographs by Stanley Kubrick from the Museum’s Look Magazine archive.
Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) was just 17 when he sold his first photograph to Look Magazine in 1945. Raised in the Bronx, and the son of a physician, Kubrick was drawn to photography at a young age, and after high school, he went on to immerse himself in all aspects of photography, film production, and directing. As a self-taught photographer, he worked for Look Magazine until the 1950s, when his interest turned to short films.
The exhibition, Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs, displays some of the most notable pieces of the artist’s work year by year.
It is interesting to note that in his early years , prior to his apprenticeship with Look, he supplemented his income by playing chess “for quarters” in Washington Square Park and other Manhattan chess clubs.
After becoming a full-time staff photographer, his assignments were all across the board and were as diverse as his piece on Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota, Florida to Working Debutante featuring Betsy von Furstenberg.
Kubrick drew inspiration from the city he loved, with photo essays on such everyday scenes as ‘dogs’ and ‘laundry’, as pictured above and below in “A Dog’s Life in the Big City” and “Wash Day in Greenwich Village.”
A Dogs Life
Wash Day in Greenwich Village
This exhibition covers many of his 129 photography assignments, and more than 12,000 negatives from his five years as a staff photographer.
Above and below, Guy Lombardo, the Canadian-American band leader.
As for Kubrick’s personal life, he married his high-school sweetheart (Toba Metz) in 1948, at the age of 19, and they lived in a small apartment at 36 West 16th Street until their divorce three years later. He met his second wife (Ruth Sobotka), an Austrian-born dancer and theatrical designer in 1952. The couple married and moved to Hollywood, California in 1955, where she had a brief role as a ballet dancer in his film Killer’s Kiss (1955). They divorced in 1957. Kubrick married German actress Christiane Harlan in 1957, and the couple remained together until Kubrick’s death in 1999.
We can’t mention Stanley Kubrick’s name without mentioning some of our favorite and notable films ~ Lolita (1962) and Dr. Strangelove (1964). Fast forward to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Barry Lyndon (1975), The Shining (1980). His final film, completed shortly before his death, was Eyes Wide Shut (1999).
The exhibition, Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs, will be on view through January 6, 2019 at The Museum of the City of New York, Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street, NYC.
Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs is also offered as an Exhibition Catalogue with near 300 images and introduction by noted photography critic Luc Sante.
Related programming for Through A Different Lens includes a tour of Kubrick’s photographs with curator, Sean Corcoran on Wednesday, May 16th at 5:00-6:30pm (Free with admission).
From Photography to Film Noir: Stanley Kubrick’s Early Career on Tuesday, May 22nd from 6:30-8:30pm. $12+ ($10 Museum Members).
Moonlight & Movies: The Naked City ~ Take a fresh look at this vivid film noir on Thursday, August 2nd from 8:00 to 10:15pm. $12 + ($10 Museum Members).
For more events, art exhibits and installations in NYC check out 37 not-to-miss this month.