Film Still - Artistic Significance

Artistic Significance

Maxine Ducey, film archive director, has summarized the significance and contributions of the early film stills to the film industry:

The curtain has long been rung down on the golden age of Hollywood portraiture, but the portraits made by the Hollywood glamour photographers remain on stage. The photographs are a testimony to the photographers' skill and agility, as well as to their aesthetic sensibilities. Studying these portraits, we can never forget the talent of the photographers. We have proof of their consummate ability to capture in a single image the essence of a star, and to communicate that information to a film viewer, magazine reader or studio executive. Hollywood portrait photographers were not seen as artists or creators, yet one has only to examine their legacy to be convinced of the enduring quality of their vision as well as their craft.