Yorgos Lanthimos’ new photobook is a beautiful yet haunting glimpse into his cinematic world

The eerie atmosphere of noir fiction meets the unsettling mundanity of suburbia in Yorgos Lanthimos’ new photobook. Shot on the set of Kinds of Kindness (2024), these analogue photos feel incidental and deeply intentional at once, capturing in-between moments from the Greek filmmaker’s dark and disturbing triptych of black comedy.

The photographs are filled with ambiguity and surreal tension. They feature the film’s stars, including Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Jesse Plemons in fleeting and sometimes disquieting compositions – bodies cropped at odd angles, faces disguised or eyes averted.

Published by Mack, the book includes a series of new texts by Lanthimos, mirroring the fragmented lyricism of Sappho, whose poetry inspired its title: i shall sing these songs beautifully. The ancient Greek lyricist is best known for her meditations on love, longing, and beauty, and this phrase comes from a poem expressing the joy of sharing beauty with others.

Sadly, much of Sappho’s work survives only in fragments, preserved on fragile papyrus scraps. Like her poetry, each of Lanthimos’ photographs is just a fragment of a larger story too – a haunting glimpse into his cinematic world, and perhaps an invitation to find beauty even in the darkest places.