The Emmy Award-winning Hollywood director and producer immerses us here in his photographic explorations through his stories hidden behind the opaque shadows of the birthplace of film noir.
A major figure behind the scenes of the Hollywood industry is now in our spotlight. Daniel Sackheim's film and television career spans over thirty years. From directing to producing, he is responsible for episodes of some of the biggest series, such as New York Police Blues, X-Files, True Detective, Ozark, Game of Thrones, The Americans, The Leftovers, Lovecraft Country, Better Call Saul, The Walking Dead. And the list goes on. He was even a music supervisor on Miami ViceIn 2020, this Emmy Award winner co-founded Bedrock Entertainment, which develops and produces content for streaming platforms and cable channels. But here, he explores a different territory: photography, where he puts his passion for visual storytelling to good use. Movement thus gives way to the stillness of the image. His series Unseen is a superb homage to film noir, playing with shadows and light. "As a child, I suffered from a paralyzing fear of the dark.", he explains. “I was so terrified of the imaginary creatures hiding under the bed or lurking in the dark corners of my closet that I often fell asleep with a flashlight clutched tightly in my hand. The irony here is not lost on me […].” As a good street photographer, Daniel Sackheim captures contemporary life in the heart of this nocturnal, disturbing and claustrophobic urban jungle.
Mystery and suspense
The genre's aesthetic thus reaches its peak, deeply influenced by expressionism and neorealism. Solitary, ghostly figures confront colossal architecture, wandering through nearly empty, labyrinthine alleyways bathed in contrasting light and shadows. The worlds of Orson Welles and Billy Wilder overwhelm us, as does that of Edward Hopper, a photographer he reveres. Daniel Sackheim creates a striking space-time continuum, exploring these "isolated fragments of subjects once present, but now vanished." This stark contrast of light and darkness fully permeates this atmosphere of latent tension and paranoia, where everything can tip at any second, at any street corner. Flickering streetlights, enigmatic off-screen light, neon signs that seem to come alive… This interplay of light is expertly calibrated, playing with distorted urban landscapes. "My obsessive curiosity is rooted in the need to uncover secrets that remain hidden, even in the most forbidden corners of the city."he insists, before concluding: "To delve into the past, to look at the faces of long-forgotten ghosts." Daniel Sackheim continues his photographic explorations in 2024 at the Leica Gallery in Los Angeles, Iconic Images in London, and the SE Center for Photography in South Carolina. He is also preparing a dedicated book and developing his series. Vacancy and will launch Projecting LA, a large public event of photography and outdoor projections.
Photo credits © Daniel Sackheim – Courtesy of the Artist
United States – Los Angeles