Roman Polanski is captured directing THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS (1967) in this exceptional black-and-white behind-the-scenes production photograph. Wearing heavy location clothing, Polanski presses his eye directly to the viewfinder of the professional 35mm motion-picture camera, providing a wonderfully intimate portrait of the filmmaker personally examining the composition of a shot.

ROMAN POLANSKI - THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS (1967) Rare Director at Camera BTS Photo

The filmmaking equipment gives this photograph exceptional documentary appeal. The large camera body, top-mounted film magazine, lens assembly and viewfinder remain completely exposed, while Polanski’s concentration places the director and the physical machinery of filmmaking together within a single composition. Rather than showing the carefully constructed Gothic world seen by audiences, the photograph reveals the practical production process occurring immediately behind the lens.

THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS was photographed on 35mm film by acclaimed British cinematographer Douglas Slocombe using anamorphic Panavision lenses. Slocombe’s rich color photography, sweeping landscapes and elaborate interiors contributed enormously to the film’s distinctive fairy-tale Gothic atmosphere.

Polanski occupied the unusual position of both director and principal performer, appearing as Alfred, the nervous young assistant to Professor Abronsius. His close involvement on both sides of the camera makes production photographs showing him actually working with the filmmaking equipment particularly fascinating records of the production.

Directed by Polanski from a screenplay written with Gérard Brach, THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS stars Jack MacGowran, Sharon Tate, Ferdy Mayne and Polanski himself. Originally released in Britain as DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES, the film combines elaborate Gothic imagery, vampire mythology and eccentric comedy in one of the director’s most visually distinctive early productions.

For collectors of filmmaking history, this photograph offers something considerably different from a conventional cast portrait or scene still. Roman Polanski, the 35mm motion-picture camera and the physical process of composing a shot become the subjects themselves, preserving a rare view of the director at work during the creation of a celebrated 1960s Gothic film.

Carefully restored and professionally printed from archival source material, this museum-quality photograph is a distinctive collectible for admirers of Roman Polanski, THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS, DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES, Douglas Slocombe, 35mm cinematography, classic vampire cinema and rare behind-the-scenes production photography.

Roman Polanski talks about production difficulties in his autobiography: "Our first month's outdoor filming became a series of ingenious improvisations, mainly because the last-minute switch from one location (Austria) to another (Urtijëi, an Italian ski resort in the Dolomites) had left us so little time to revise our shooting schedules.