Documenting the Documenter

The cover of Nonfiction, the new book of photographs by Nubar Alexanian from the set of Errol Morris's films.

Photographer Nubar Alexanian met Errol Morris 15 years ago on assignment for the New York Times Magazine. Errol was the subject of the story, and was just beginning to shoot a film called Six Stories, which turned into Fast, Cheap and Out of Control. After photographing him for a couple of days, Errol asked if he would shoot stills during the filming of his movie. Nubar respectfully declined.

"Film sets are very restrictive environments for still photographers, especially those who, like me, like to wander and do their own thing. Besides, I was not cut out for publicity pictures and production stills and told him so. 'No, no, no' was his response. I'm not asking you to shoot production stills. Just come and shoot my subjects the way you normally shoot and I'll cut your still images into my film," Nubar says.

Errol never figured out how to use Nubar's stills in his movies. But they continued to work together through most of his films. The photographs in the book Nonfiction include Fast, Cheap and Out of Control, Mr. Death, the First Person series, and Morris’s current film, Standard Operating Procedure, about Abu Ghraib. The movie is scheduled for release in April 2008.

Seeing how Errol Morris seems to play continuously with the line between reality and imaginary, it seems appropriate that the camera would be turned on himself now. But don't expect to find any answers, only more questions. As Morris says himself, "Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but there are two words that you can never apply to them: 'true' and 'false.'"

For more information on Nonfiction, visit http://walkercreekpress.com and for more information on Errol Morris, visit http://www.errolmorris.com.

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