Jonah Hill Is Actually a Pretty Good Photographer

Jonah Hill: actor, director, jujitsu master, wearer of tie-dye and... photographer? His Instagram implies so. This isn’t surprising. A purveyor of the arts, it was only a matter of time before Hill purchased what I and other professional photographers believe to be the $8,000 Leica M10 camera and began snapping candids of the famous people around him.

The Leica M10 is a special beast. You can’t, in any way, fairly compare the two, but in layman's terms, the Leica M10 is like the Google Pixel on mega steroids. A legacy brand, Leica has been at the forefront of camera technology since the early 1900s—and its M series of cameras has been professionals' top choice since the 1950s.

The M10 has an ISO range of 100 to 50,000. Yes, that’s four zeros which means the sensor’s light sensitivity allows the camera to capture incredible images in the dark. Its image files are a whopping 24 megapixels—double the size of the iPhone X’s.  

But Hill isn’t even just capturing digital images. He’s also—gasp—a film photographer?! In January, Hill posted a black-and-white photo of Q-Tip to his Instagram with the caption, “I love photography. I’ve been doing it for years privately and am starting to work professionally. I have decided to start sharing some photos with you all. Hope you enjoy, if not, that’s cool too.” Well, my friend, we do enjoy.

Professionally speaking, the photos aren’t pushing any artistic boundaries—in fact, I would advise Hill to hire an intern from Parson’s or FIT to properly scan his 35mm film work. The pixelated look isn’t doing anyone justice.

On top of this, the images are aesthetically different from Hill’s motion picture direction. They’re mostly black-and-white, yet they don’t carry the nostalgia factor that his motion work does so perfectly. That said, it’s the up-close-and-personal access to other celebrities that makes Hill’s work fun and exciting to look at.

So, Hill, please keep sharing candid moments of Kim Kardashian, Karlie Kloss and Ezra Koenig. We’re here for it.