Behold

How the Beauty of Transparent Is Captured in Still Photography 

Maura comes out for the first time to her eldest child Sarah. 

Beth Dubber for Amazon

A pivotal and profound scene in the Amazon series Transparent occurs in the second episode of the first season, appropriately titled “The Letting Go,” when Maura, played by Jeffrey Tambor, comes out, accidentally at first, as trans to her eldest daughter Sarah. Although when the episode aired there is a third character in the room, it’s a tight scene, focusing on the two actors while they are seated on a bed.  

Beth Dubber was about 6 feet from the actors while the scene played out, with an aching back and trembling knees, hoping to get the image and not collapse before the scene was cut.

It wasn’t easy.

“I prefer to be a fly on the wall, but in this scene everyone was conscious of everyone else,” Dubber said. “I was crouched in a corner with the camera operator and focus puller right next to me, as well as a boom operator capturing sound; luckily he was 6-foot-5, and I’m 5-foot-3 so I could fit under his armpit. It’s 100 degrees in there, and we’re all scrunched together, a pile of sweaty people with equipment. … My thighs and calves were burning as I was in a mid-squat position; my back hurt but I thought, ‘I have to get this shot; this is the shot.’ ”

Dubber is used to working under almost every condition—she’s a still photographer for both television and film. Although it might seem easier, and perhaps cheaper, for the studios to simply pull stills from the video, Dubber said she’s hired not only to capture images from the projects but also to “tell the story of the production,” including behind-the-scenes images or “those quiet moments on set when the actor is looking over his or her script in an amazing spill light or those classic candid moments when a director is speaking with actors going over a scene.”

“I ran with the camera, which was hand-held, as Marcy [Bradley Whitford] and Maura [Tambor] enter the dancehall. I had run many times with them without getting anything, but after a while, I was able to finally grab a few frames of the pair together. At first it is somewhat improvised since there were no camera marks for actors, but as we ran through the scene several times it becomes more of a choreographed dance.”

Beth Dubber for Amazon

“I was fortunate that Jeffrey was comfortable with me taking photos as he rehearsed his scene. As hard as I tried and moved around, I could not get a clean shot; there is an arm in the mirror that drives me nuts. At this moment, many people were walking around getting the set and the lights ready to shoot; there was not even one second I could get an image without someone being in it.”

Beth Dubber for Amazon

First on-screen kiss for Sarah (Amy Landecker) and Tammy (Melora Hardin).

Beth Dubber for Amazon

 

Following the first take of their first on-screen kiss.

 

Beth Dubber for Amazon

Dubber studied photography in college and then took a series of jobs including waitressing, bartending, and then working as a travel coordinator for the Ellen show during its second season. “I had to burn myself out of every single possible job,” she said. Along the way she got to know a still photographer and said she knew that was what she was meant to be doing. She built up her portfolio by working on her days off, shooting for graduate students at the University of Southern California and trying to meet with as many prominent photo editors for networks as possible. It paid off, and about a decade ago she landed her first big break—although she no longer remembers what it was.

Getting hired for a job is a mixture of skill and luck, and her scheduling, once hired, depends on budgets and a varying level of control the studios require; some are quite rigid when asking what they want, others leave a bit more creative control to the photographer. Dubber said she is always there for rehearsal in order to get a feel of what’s happening and compared what she does to a choreographed dance between herself and the rest of the crew who are all trying to get what they need.

“You have to be good at what you do, but at least 80 percent of it is building relationships with the crew,” she said. “They have to like you and want to help you get the shots that you need.”

What she needs is to make sure the studio is getting what they need in order to better publicize the show. That dictates what shots she fights to get. “If it’s an actor talking on a cellphone, you probably don’t need it.”

“I took two frames of the show’s creator Jill Soloway directing Jeffery in a quiet scene where his character is celebrating being Maura. It is rare to get a good clean shot of the director and actor both facing forward when having a discussion. The camera moved on a dolly so I moved with it slightly during the scene. The motion has to be seamless and graceful—often I am not either of those things, so this moment was a triumph.”

Beth Dubber for Amazon

“I have not seen this image in any of the media; however, it is my favorite. In this quiet moment, in a tiny hotel room, Jeffery’s character has just come up with the name Maura, with the help of co-star Marcy played by Bradley Whitford. To me, it speaks of the freedom Maura feels with finally finding her way to her identity.”

Beth Dubber for Amazon

Kathryn Hahn, show creator Jill Soloway, Faith Soloway (Jill’s sister), and Olivia Hernandez (set PA). “It must have been over 100 degrees on this day in a cemetery in Altadena.”

Beth Dubber for Amazon