Life in and behind the lens

Watching Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese leave Burn 60 this weekend (you can see the pap video here) to a cacophony of shutters reminds me that, despite the inconvenience and the craziness of some pap situations, Jake has had a largely good relationship with the camera for years - both in front of it and behind it. We all know about Jake's passion for cooking but, back in Teen People 2002, Jake's passion was listed as photography.


Jake described his 21st birthday to 17 magazine: 'During the day my mom threw me a party with my family and closest friends. At night my friends had a big party for me at a club in LA. My mom bought me this really old-school Palaroid camera. And I got a beautiful ring from a friend that says: It's important to live, not only to exist.' On recent visits to Europe, Jake has been seen camera in hand taking pictures of the sights, just like the rest of us.



Jake can also be relied upon to help out.



Of course, as an actor, Jake is well accustomed to performing in front of a camera and, as a particularly photogenic actor, he's also well used to posing in front of fashion and magazine photographers, including some of the very best. These include Mario Testino and Annie Leibovitz as well as Michael Stipe. The impact of the paparrazi on such photography is discussed here by Steffan Hill who has photographed Jake in the past.


Beautiful as Jake is, Ang Lee told the Advocate that he'd had some problems photographing Jake, in contrast to Heath Ledger: '“Jake positions himself this way, then that way. He tries everything—like De Niro or something,” Lee says, then cackles. “Heath is not like that. He has a specific target within him. I don’t have to bring him back from here or there. He’s also very easy to photograph, easier than Jake. You don’t have to avoid anything.”' One wonders what this 'thing' was that had to be avoided. Yet it is because Jake has such an interesting, animated and expressive face that one takes so much pleasure in looking at him.


Brokeback Mountain had a stills photographer, Kimberley French, who has the gift of melting into the background and being tolerated and liked and admired by actors. Her photography on the set - especially her images of Heath with whom she had a special connection - led to the instantly recognisable Brokeback poster.



'French met [Heath] on a movie set when he was visiting then-girlfriend Naomi Watts, and when they met again on the set of Brokeback the two instantly bonded over cameras and cigarettes. As a result, French was able to capture poignant photos of the actor. “It felt really great from the start, that I already had a relationship with one of the actors,” French muses. “And it just continued... Heath would let me get so close to his eyeline. Getting in an actor’s eyeline—between them and the camera or another actor, or whatever they think they’re looking at—is a big deal. He also later allowed me to shoot him while he was concentrating on his lines.”


'On one such occasion, when Ledger was pacing back and forth rehearsing a scene, French snapped an introspective portrait that was used in composite for the movie’s iconic poster. The other portion of the final image, featuring actor Jake Gyllenhaal, was taken during a special photography session that lasted all of five minutes. “I had very little time, so I had no lights, just reflectors,” she now laughs. “It’s nerve-wracking, but the job is totally about being fast.”'



Kimberley's images also feature in this video as background to an interview Heath did for an Australian radio station on 22 January 2006.



Nailed

A big thank you to Monica for finding more pictures from the set of Nailed. As with other photos we've seen from the set, it seems the actors and director were quite happy to have cameras around despite the strict ban. The photo of Jessica is interesting because it gives us a good look at the offending nail. Many thanks to the photographers for taking these pictures, which must keep us going until we get to see the finished article.




And finally and off topic...

I took my own camera out today for a trip to Blenheim Palace to have afternoon tea...


... to enjoy the scenery...




...and to pretend my other car is a porsche.



Including pictures from IHJ, links and WDW.