After a decade on set, one thing I've learned is that the best unit photographers are usually invisible.
I've been producing publicity stills and behind-the-scenes imagery for film and television.
Unit stills don't just document a production. They often become part of how a film is marketed, from posters and press kits to trade and media campaigns.
Before moving onto set work, I spent seven years in post-production as a picture editor and photo retoucher. It taught me what an image needs to do after it leaves the camera.
Contact in bio
#UnitStillPhotographer #UnitStills #MotionPicturePhotography #OnSetPhotography #FilmStills
15 weeks in the Saudi Arabian desert. Going from 45-degree heat in summer to zero degrees in winter. A cast of thousands.
This is Desert Warrior — and these images nearly didn't happen.
Unit Still Photography: Graham Bartholomew SMPSP | MBC Studios
Full portfolio at the link in bio.
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#desertwarrior #aiyshahart #rupertwyatt @smpspstills #fujifilm
After a long wait I have eventually acquired a copy of A Single Frame a thirty year celebration of the Society of Motion Picture Still Photographers (SMPSP). Thirty years of the people who work quietly in the background of some of the world’s greatest films, making sure those moments are never lost.
To be a member is already an honour. To have images from Desert Warrior, Tomb Raider, and Bloodshot included in this commemorative publication is something I will not take for granted.
Congratulations to everyone at @smpspstills on thirty years. Here’s to the next thirty.
#SMPSP #UnitStillPhotographer #DesertWarrior #TombRaider #Bloodshot
I love capturing those action images that show the intensity of a scene, but capturing that intensity in a match, behind-the-scenes image, is even more special for me.
The magnitude of what goes into making the action. In this image, we see two camera operators. What we don’t see is a third camera, two boom swingers and of course the stills photographer who is capturing this while not getting caught on camera and avoiding all the crew.
I love this dance on set.
#behindthescenes #filmcrew #unitphotographer
Black and white has a way of clearing the noise.
Colour tells you a great deal about a world. Black and white tells you something different: it takes you directly to the person inside it, to the light on a face and the weight behind the eyes that a subject cannot quite hide.
That is what I am always looking for. The moment someone stops performing for the camera and simply exists inside it.
#UnitStillPhotographer #FilmStills #AfricanCinema #SouthAfricanFilm #BlackAndWhitePhotography
The director sets the vision. Everyone else serves it. As a unit still photographer, I have a front row seat to some of the most remarkable creative minds in the business. I never take that for granted. Deeply grateful to every director who has trusted me in their space and allowed me to document their vision. 🎬
Rupert Wyatt
Gore Verbinski
Steven Knight
Kevin Macdonald
Roar Uthaug
Ashley Avis
Kirill Sokolov
Michael Matthews
Alik Sakharov
Nimrod Antal
Pete Segal
Moritz Mohr
Ryan Kruger
#FilmDirector #OnSet #UnitStillsPhotographer #MotionPicture #filmphotography
Today belongs to the people who actually make it happen.
Not the poster. Not the premiere. Not the trailer.
The ones at base camp before sunrise. The ones who wrap last, but without whom, there is no film.
On International Workers’ Day, I am humbled, grateful, and privileged to have shared a set with so many brilliant, hardworking, warm human beings across productions around the world.
You are the industry. Never forget that. Thank you. Every single one of you.
🎬 #FilmCrewFriday #WorkersDay #InternationalWorkersDay #FilmCrew #BehindTheScenes
Tom Felton
From They Will Kill You, filmed in Cape Town.
One day on set in between takes Tom took an interest in my Fujifilm cameras and asked to look and proceeded to take a few photos including a few of me. Tom is always approachable and easy to work with.
#tomfelton #theywillkillyou #unitphotographer #fujifilm
Some places don’t look real. Saudi Arabia is one of them.
These are the landscapes of the Tabuk and NEOM region. Where Desert Warrior was filmed. Every morning I arrived on set, the desert looked completely different. Different light. Different colour. Different planet.
The desert keeps no record of you. No trace except wind, rare rain, and the soft prints of a Sand cat. For me, the desert is a clean palette with each new day.
Desert Warrior: now in cinemas. Unit Still Photography: Graham Bartholomew SMPSP | @mbcstudios Full portfolio at the link in bio.
#DesertWarrior #NEOM #SaudiArabia #OnSet #BehindTheScenes
