Photography and Cinema

hasneverbeenentirelyclear-cut.Wallhimselfhas

madecomplexstagedphotographsatthescaleof

cinema(seechaptersTwoandFour),whileFiggisis

oneofseveraldirectorswhohaveexperimentedwith

digitalvideocamerasandminimalcrews,seekingthe

lightnessandindependenceweassociatewithfootloose

photographers.

Inthe 1960 sAndyWarholtookcinemaawayfrom

narrativeandmotionandclosetothestillnessofphotog-

raphy.Hisfirstfilm,comprisingsixhoursofasleeping

man,wasanalmostpureexpressionoftimepassing,

endinginafreezeframe(Sleep, 1963 ).HisScreen Tests

( 1964 – 6 )weresingle-takeshortfilmsoffriendsand

celebrities.The‘sitters’remainedbeforehis 16 mm

moviecameraforfourminutes,thelengthofafilm

spool.OftenWarholwouldsimplywalkawayleaving

thecamerarollingandthesittertodoastheywished:

sitbored,stareintothecamera,flirtwithit,poseasif

beingphotographed,oractup.Thefilmswerelitlike

noir-ishfilmstillsormoreflatlylikeapassportphoto

booth,whichWarholalsousedtomakesimpletime-

lapseportraits.UnsureastoquitewhattheScreen Testswere,Warhol

toyedwithcallingthemLivingPortraitBoxes,FilmPortraitsoreven

‘Stillies’(ratherthan‘movies’).

ForWarhol,‘Thegreatstarsaretheoneswhoaredoingsomething

youcanwatcheverysecond,evenifitisjustamovementintheireye.’^10

Hesoonconcludedthattheattentionofthemoviecameracouldmake

anythingastar,eventheEmpireStateBuilding.Askedwhathehopedto

doinfilms,hereplied:‘Well,justfindinterestingthingsandfilmthem.’^11

Whatmatteredwasduration,thepassingofcinematictime.Theviewer’s

movementastheyadjusttowhattheyseewasmoreimportantthanany

depictedmovement.

Cinema’s‘longtake’maystrikeusasboldlyphotographicandit

isoftendescribedassuch.Evenso,whenaskedaboutthedifference

betweenaphotographofastaticobjectandafilmofit,JeanCocteau 17