Among the group of actors (from Orson Welles to Dennis Hopper to James Franco) known to be as comfortable behind the lens of a camera as in front of it is the late, great Yul Brynner. Over his lifetime, Brynner shot more than 8,000 photographs while working and playing, both on-set and off.
Last fall, Brynner’s daughter Victoria published Yul Brynner: A Photographic Journey, a four-volume book sourced from the family’s vast private archive. In conjunction with the release, an exhibition of his work has traveled from Lehmann Maupin Gallery in New York to London’s Little Black Gallery. According to Victoria, Brynner’s formal training was limited to a few classes when he was a young student in Chicago, but he surrounded himself with an impressive cast of photographers, many belonging to the venerated agency Magnum, and made teachers out of friends like Inge Morath and Ernest Haas.
While the show is small — only nineteen photographs — Brynner’s sensibility is captured clearly. His interest in people, not just characters, is expressed in candid portraits of friends like Dean Martin and Liz Taylor, who appear far less guarded in front of the camera than today’s celebrity equivalents. You could attribute that to an era in which photographs were taken with less frequency and greater intention — or to their closeness with the photographer, a good friend.
Yul Brynner: A Photographic Journey is on view at the Little Black Gallery through February 11.
Photos courtesy of Yul Brynner Photography
