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STREAMING VIDEOS
Movies can be research, too! The Library provides access to documentaries about Photography (photographers, history, technique) from the Films on Demand database. See below for search techniques, or browse more than 150 titles on Photography in Films on Demand.
San Francisco Public Library has access to thousands of movies on art and photography with the Kanopy streaming database. You will need a San Francisco Public Library card and your pin number for the card to access Kanopy and the other great streaming collections available through SFPL..
JR has the largest art gallery in the world. Thanks to his photographic collage technique, he exhibits his work free of charge on the walls of the whole world – attracting the attention of those who do not usually go to museums. JR has created "Infiltrating art". During his collage activities, the local communities take part in the act of artistic creation, with no stage separating actors from spectators. The anonymity of JR and the absence of any explanation accompanying his huge portraits leave him with a free space in which issues and actors, performers and passers-by meet, forming the essence of his work.
Originator of the 28 Millimeters Project which he started in and around Clichy-Montfermeil in 2004, continued in the Middle East with Face 2 Face (2007), in Brazil and Kenya for Women Are Heroes (2008-2011), in Egypt (2021), Rwanda and Ukraine (2022). JR's digital mural Chronicles of San Francisco, celebrating the voices of our extraordinary, unique and diverse city, was exhibited in SFMOMA's Robert's Family Gallery in 2019.
The new feature documentary Paper and Glue follows JR during installations on the US-Mexico border, inside the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, on the courtyard of a supermax prison, and more.
JR: Can Art Change the World? by 
For nearly thirty years, from 1962 to 1991, John Szarkowski served as Director of the Department of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. As organizer of more than 100 exhibitions, he taught several generations how to think about and look at photographs. Examining his double life as both curator and photographer, this is a documentary on the man who helped establish photography for the first time as a true and different kind of art.
Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of the Museum of Modern Art by Photo (312 mins total, 2009-2013)
Compared to painting, the creation of a photograph seems simple, requiring little more than a lens and a shutter, a subject and a source of light. But what had to be adjusted, waited for, or provoked for all the elements to come together in the frame and produce an image that once seen is never forgotten? Almost since its invention, the camera has been used not just to capture reality but to interpret it. This 12-part series from Arte France traces the adventure of this art form from its beginnings up through the 21st century, revealing the hidden stories and trade secrets concealed in a series of photographs. 12-part series, 26 minutes each.
The Vivian Maier Mystery: A Secret Passion for Photography (53 mins, 2013)
This documentary uncovers the life of Vivian Maier, a nanny working in New York and Chicago who, unbeknownst to many, had a secret passion for photography. When she died in 2009 at the age of 83, she left behind thousands of photographs and undeveloped rolls of film that were discovered by several collectors at a Chicago auction house. Maier's incredible body of work now lives on and establishes her as one of the century's master street photographers. The Vivian Maier Mystery uncovers the story behind the woman behind the camera.
Through Women's Lenses (53 mins, 2015)
This visual documentary combines contemporary and historical perspectives. Viewers will find themselves wanting to delve into coffee-table books or take a trip to a museum. Ask people to name five photographers, from past or present, and chances are that few will think to name a woman. Highlighting Julia Margaret Cameron, Claude Cahun, Dorthea Lange, Lisette Model, Vivian Maier, Christine Spengler, and Nan Goldin—and featuring images from many more female photographers—this film looks at invaluable contributions that women have made to the art form. With photography currently in vogue, it is a fitting time to dedicate a film to women photographers and to set the record straight on their little-known talents.
Gordon Parks: Visions (59 mins, 1986)
His images are portraits of the nation—strong and weak, black and white, rich and poor—and a message from a man whose fascinating life journey expressed a unique personal vision.
Mapplethorpe: Look At The Pictures (108 mins, 2016)
In 1989, on the floor of Congress, Senator Jesse Helms implored America to “Look at the pictures,” while denouncing the controversial art of Robert Mapplethorpe, whose photographs pushed social boundaries with their frank depictions of nudity, sexuality and fetishism – and ignited a culture war that rages to this day. More than 25 years later, the HBO Documentary Films presentation Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures does just that, taking an unflinching, unprecedented look at Mapplethorpe’s most provocative work. The film is the first feature-length documentary about the artist since his death from AIDS in 1989 (at age 42), and is the most comprehensive film on Mapplethorpe ever made.
Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning (111 mins, 2014)
More than four decades of 20th-century America are filtered through Lange’s life and lens—her creations and achievements, her tragedies and losses. Known for her powerful images from the Great Depression, her haunting "Migrant Mother" remains emblematic of that period. In 1936, when photographs of the poverty-stricken mother of seven, stranded in a camp in California, were published, a national awareness began. As America matured into a world power, Lange continued to bear witness—mass migration, increasing urbanization and the cost of war at home—bringing subjects alive, transmitting raw emotions and capturing the human condition. This film is made by Dyanna Taylor, Lange’s granddaughter, who began her artistic vision, literally, at Lange’s feet.
Cartier-Bresson’s Century (53 mins, 2012)
Few have revolutionized photography as much as French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson has. The father of modern photojournalism contributed spreading the "street photography" or "life reportage", a style that influenced generations of photographers. In this documentary, he narrates the crucial moments of his life, such as his meeting with Gandhi, while his shots illustrate his work. Portions with English subtitles.
Essential Lens: Analyzing Photographs Across the Curriculum (103 mins total, 2015)
A series of five videos that introduce the ways photographic images impact our lives and what we know about the world and its history.
Films on Demand is an online library of streaming videos, covering a wide range of topics. CCSF Library's subscription includes the general academic and nursing collections. There are approximately 15,000 films.
You may want to create a personal user account with Infobase (the company that owns Films on Demand). Some benefits of creating an account are:
To create an account:
click "Your Profile" in the upper right corner of the screen in Films on Demand. Then,Note: This is a private account you make directly with Infobase, and as such, this may give them permission to track your behavior.
There are a few ways to find videos in Films on Demand.
Examples:
