Movie blockbuster photographer Jasin Boland shares his on-set secrets

Is this the best job in movies? The man behind some of the most jaw-dropping film stills of the modern era shares the stories behind his favourites

Film still photographer Jasin Boland. All pictures: Jasin Boland

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FROM the whirling dust and flames of Mad Max: Fury Road to Neo and Agent Smith punching through the rain in The Matrix and blockbusters such as Mission Impossible, Thor: Ragnarok and Aquaman, Australian stills photographer JASIN BOLAND has been on set for the biggest titles in contemporary cinema, capturing actors, directors and crew in the full flight of their creative process.

Here he shares the stories behind his favourite on-set images.

He will also talk about his work and on-set experiences at the Aperature Australia photography conference at the ICC on June 22-23 (aparatureaustralia.com.au) or see more of his work at https://www.instagram.com/jasinboland/

SCARLETT JOHANSSON ON SET OF GHOST IN THE SHELL “I’m always on the lookout for a sweet behind-the-scenes image and this one of Scarlett Johansson on Ghost In The Shell is one of my favourites. Rarely does it all stack up so beautifully, with the actor, director, camera and sound. I treat behind the scenes like my on-set landscapes and it’s fun to take you guys through a different door in the director’s world.”

CHARLIZE THERON ON SET OF AEON FLUX “I shot this image of Charlize Theron on the film Aeon Flux. The film was made in Berlin, the locations were incredible, there’s such a huge spectrum of architecture from the past and what looks like the future. This scene was actually shot from above as a close-up as Aeon catches a fly in her lashes. While the camera department were doing some tweaks Charlize turned her head to have a chat and this was the image I captured. Finding the light on set from the unexpected is one of my favourite things and with this shot I love the old Hollywood feel to it.”

CHRIS HEMSWORTH ON SET OF THOR RAGNAROK “As an on-set unit photographer the two most important things are patience and creating access. I don’t try to copy the director or director of photography’s style, I’m in there as a photo journalist telling the story or the director’s storytelling.

KEANU REEVES AND HUG WEAVING ON SET OF THE MATRIX “Film still photographers live a very anonymous life. I doubt there are many people here that have heard of me yet I think most would have seen some of my images. We are probably the most published photographers on the planet yet no one knows our name, that’s pretty damn cool when you think of it!”

SHOT DURING THE MAKING OF EVEREST “When we shot the film Everest, about the 1996, disaster one of the locations was the village of Namche Bazaar. It was our first exposure to altitude after landing in Lukla and before shooting Memorial near EBC at over 5000m. Although only 3500m, on the first couple of days the trek just up the stairs would take more than an hour. By the end of it it was barely a 10-minute walk. You can never underestimate the hardships of working in a high altitude environment. As you can see dawn is just stunning and one of the things I love most about my work is being taken to all these incredible locations. I try to hike and explore every day we have free and sometimes we even get to do it during our work day, I can’t even begin to tell you some of the things we have discovered. While photographing film sets is my work life landscapes are my hobby. I have one motto for my work and that’s ‘Make the job work for you, don’t work for the job’. I think it’s why I am still in love with being on film sets.”