AC Stills Portfolio 2025: People and Faces
The second of three collections showcasing outstanding photography by Society members.
Art photography is a reflection of human experience, a fact multiplied when the subject is another human: a face through a train window, a child on a swing set, a solemn look deep into the lens. The result is a pairing of experiences, of photographer and photographed, linked for a fraction of a second and for all time.
The images on the following pages have been taken by cinematographers, who excel at storytelling, so when a photo leads one to ponder not just the instant, but what led the subject there and what happens next, there’s a good reason why. Sans outside direction and film crews, these artists have let themselves loose to filter the world through their very personal lenses, telling the tale of a moment in a way that’s unique both to them and to those they capture. “If a photographer cares about the people before the lens and is compassionate, much is given,” Eve Arnold once said. “It is the photographer, not the camera, that is the instrument.”
Introducing a new wrinkle to this year’s “People” gallery, AC has placed some additional emphasis on “Faces” in particular — their expressions and contours, their relationships to their environments. And to add a bit of fun, a few of these faces aren’t what you’d expect.
So, enjoy these images of people and faces through the eyes of the artists who planned, sought out or happened upon them — who have taken “an instant out of time,” as Dorothea Lange described, “altering life by holding it still.”
— Andrew Fish
Paul Ryan, ASC
The Ice Cream Bar •
Eugene, Oregon • 1969
Nikon F + Nikkor 105mm +
Kodak Tri-X
Dejan Georgevich, ASC
Free Bird • 2020
Apple iPhone XR
Sam Nicholson, ASC
School Kids • London • 2003
Canon EOS D60 + 75-300mm
Ernest Dickerson, ASC
Dive! • 2014
Nikon Coolpix S9100
Alex Disenhof, ASC
A Quiet Moment in Italy • 2024
Leica Q2 + Summilux 28mm
Anastas Michos, ASC, GSC
Room With a View • 2025
iPhone 14 Pro
Christopher Norr, ASC
Sadie in Nicaragua • 2008
Leica M6 + Summicron 35mm + Kodak Tri-X
Reed Smoot, ASC
Tobias • 1983
Hasselblad 500C/M + Zeiss Planar 100mm + Kodak Tri-X
John Simmons, ASC
Lotus • 2022
Leica Q2 Monochrom + Summilux 28mm
Sean Porter, ASC
On the Train • Santa Fe, New Mexico • 2024
Sony Alpha 7C + Sony FE 40mm f/2.5 G
Sean Porter, ASC
On the Train • Santa Fe, New Mexico • 2024
Sony Alpha 7C + Sony FE 40mm f/2.5 G
Stijn Van der Veken, ASC, SBC
Folie à Deux • 2024
Leica Q3 + Leica Summilux 28mm
Ernest Holzman, ASC
912 So. Hill St., LA • 2017
Busch Pressman 4x5 +
Super-Angulon 90mm
Jon Joffin, ASC
Fame Is Out There • 2024
FujiFilm X100V + 23mm
Dana Gonzales, ASC
Girl on the Red Bus • 2019
Leica M6 + Elmarit 90mm f/2.8 + Kodak Portra 400
Mihai Mălaimare Jr., ASC
Shanghai • 2024
Contax G2 + Planar 35mm f/2
Charlie Lieberman, ASC
Varanasi • Uttar Pradesh, India • 2018
Leica M10-P + Leica Summilux 35mm f/1.4
Frederick Elmes, ASC
New York Subway • 2024
Leica M 240 + 28mm
Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS
Untitled • Poland • 2022
Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) + Noctilux 50mm f/0.95
Eagle Egilsson, ASC
Pursuit • 2024
Leica M11 Monochrom + Leica Summicron 28mm f/2
Richard Crudo, ASC
On the Wing • 2014
Canon EOS 5D Mark III + 24-105mm f/4
Crescenzo Notarile, ASC, AIC
Cat Inside Her Shadow • 2015
iPhone 6
This year's AC Stills Portfolio originally appeared in our May 2025 issue. Learn more here about how to subscribe to the industry's leading journal of motion-picture production techniques.
