Surreal, grotesque, captivating: this is how most of the worlds created by director Yorgos Lanthimos can be described. Because he not only directs, but also photographs on the film set, he has amassed a good load of stills, which can now be seen in his first exhibition in Los Angeles.

Yorgos Lanthimos' first photography exhibition in Los Angeles

You could press play on any movie by Yorgos Lanthimos, pause it at random and the still image that appears would be the perfect poster for your living room. All you need is a weakness for the absurd and offbeat, the wondrously staged. Or you need to be an Emma Stone superfan, as Lanthimos has had the talented Oscar winner all to himself for a few years now. Despite the grotesque abysses, Lanthimos’ work always has an aesthetic that can hardly be imitated. This probably has something to do with the fact that he has already photographed several editorials and fashion campaigns. So it was about time that the director’s strange trains of thought could also be admired as stills. His first photography exhibition is being held at the Webber Gallery in Los Angeles – a fitting location, given that Lanthimos has slowly but surely broken away from his native Greece and gained a foothold in Hollywood, where his productions can hold their own with the big names.

From film set to book to exhibition

His bibliography also proves that Lanthimos’ interest is not limited to moving images: the exhibition is based on his two recent books “i shall sing these songs beautifully” (2024), which was written while he was filming “Kinds of Kindness” (2024), and “Dear God, the Parthenon Is Still Broken” (2024), which originated from his work on the set of “Poor Things” (2023). The photographs were taken on the film sets, including in Budapest, London, Alexandria and Paris. Lighting equipment, scaffolding and the odd coffee cup at the edge of the pictures blur the fictional world with the real one, creating a completely new universe that clearly bears Lanthimos’ signature.