8 Photography Documentaries You Must Watch

When I’m not shooting or editing and I have time to relax I enjoy taking in a good documentary or two, especially a documentary on photography. Here are 8 that I believe are worth your consideration.

Finding Vivian Maier (2013)

For those that haven’t yet heard about Vivian Mayer before, she was a nanny who traveled around taking care of other people’s children and leading what many assumed to be a normal life. Unbeknownst to everybody around her she was what some argue would eventually become one of the most talented street photographers of her time, however this would not be discovered until after her passing away when boxes of her slides were picked up on the auction block at her estate sale and finally saw the light.

There was also a BBC Imagine titled ‘Vivian Maier – Who Took Nanny’s Pictures’ which some argue was better than than the film that was released.. In my opinion they’re both great films stacked with a plethora of remarkable images.

War Photographer (2001)

Chronicling the life of one of the greatest war photographers of all time, War Photographer follows the work of James Nachtwey who’s conflict zone photographs have been seen around the world. There’s not much else to really say about this one, the images speak for themselves, and this Academy Award & Oscar nominated documentary gives you a new found appreciation for those men and women who travel to these places to document these things for the rest of the world to see.

McCullin (2012)

In this documentary, Sunday Times of London photographer Don McCullin speaks about his 30 year long career covering everything from humanitarian disasters to the Vietnam War, Civil War in Cyprus, and the plight of the homeless in London UK in the 1960’s. He also goes on to speak not only about his career however also also how the ethos of journalism has changed over the years. If you want to learn more about the history of photojournalism, this is a documentary to put on your watch list.

“I love photography, and I love my darkroom, but even my darkroom is a haunted place”

I also discovered while writing this post that there was also a BBC Imagine episode done on him. Have yet to watch it but I know what I’ll be doing after this post is published.

Bill Cunningham New York (2010)

Not all photography that is in newspapers is doom and gloom, and not all photographers are haunted by images they shoot. “Bill Cunningham New York” is a look at the life and times of New York Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham and takes us on a brief trip into the world of this 80 year old photographer who obsesses over the images he takes documenting what people wear. It has a bit of a sad twist to it, but I’m not here to spoil anything so I’ll let you figure it all out on your own. I’ll be honest, Bill is one of the people on my list of people I would love to meet one day.

Chasing Ice (2012)

Now this documentary is part photography and part environmental awareness just like the doc “The Cove” (about dolphin slaughter in Japan) from the same producer. “Chasing Ice” is the story about National Geographic photographer James Balog as he works to capture a series of time lapse cameras across the arctic to capture a multi-year recorded time lapse of the changes occurring to the world’s glaciers.

Some of you might have seen this incredible video that was shared on social media and went viral, I’m not even going to share the trailer, this 4 minutes of video is more than enough convincing to watch this.

Teenage Paparazzo (2010)

I find most teens to be a little bit annoying, and a whole bunch of unsure what they want to do when they get older, unless you’re Austin Visschedyk. This 14 yr old “Teenage Paparazzo” was discovered by the star of the HBO series “Entourage”, Adrian Grenier, in LA one night and after encountering this pint sized shooter he turned the camera on Austin in an attempt to gain insight into this teen’s world. I’ll be honest, I wish I had 1/4 of the camera gear at the age of 14.

Manufactured Landscapes (2006)

Hands down one of my all time favourite photographers is Edward Burtynsky, and one of my all time favorite documentaries is “Manufactured Landscapes“.  Burtynsky’s images are simply breathtaking, and with that this look into the manufactured landscapes shaped by industry will likely have you watching this film a few times over.

Watermark (2014)

After watching Manufactured Landscapes and being in utter awe, when I heard about this film it was a no-brainer about putting this on my must watch list. The first time I watched this film it was the world premier at TIFF and it met and exceeded all of my expectations. The visuals are stunning, the story is moving, and the message is clear.

And there we have it, that’s my list of 8 photography documentaries which you should watch. If you’re got one you really suggest checking out feel free to leave me a comment and let me know, I’m always looking for the next thing to watch and inspire me.