Famous for his acting work in films like Star Trek reboot and Alphadog, Anton Yelchin had a secret talent: he was a devoted photographer, and was preparing his first major solo show before his untimely death earlier this year. The actor died on June at the tragically young age of 27 when his car rolled backwards in his driveway and pinned him to his gate. To honour his achievements after his death, his friends and family organized an exhibition entitled, “Anton Yelchin: Photographs” that opened earlier this month at Other, a furniture showroom and gallery in Los Angeles.
“He had been curating a portfolio; the intention was that it would go out to magazines and he was starting to talk to an agent in New York for photography. The intention was that the work would stand alone. That was a big thing for him, to have his work be respected as photography and not because he did it. That was at the core of who he was as a creative person,” shared friend and curator of the exhibition Kelly Cole to L.A Weekly.
The collection is made up of 40 portraits taken with a range of cameras, including disposables and a Leica, with some featuring in-camera effects. For six years, he photographed personalities that intrigued him and the beauty of ordinary surroundings. “From what I knew of Anton, he had a genuine curiosity for many avenues of life,” says photographer Dan Monick to LA Weekly, who had collaborated on projects with Yelchin and co-curated the exhibition.
Yelchin blended his work and job as an actor and his passion for real people. In his shots, the “models” appears like real characters from the movies. In the press release for the exhibiton, the curator said that his pictures are experimental, provocative and surrealist. In one of his photos, he photographed a model with a ugly mask in a scenario that takes the breath away. In another, he plays with the ‘voyeur’ aspect in photography and show a sneak peak of an outrageous scene.
The exhibition is on display until the end of this year, and all sales of his work will benefit the Anton Yelchin Fund which disperses proceeds between a number of projects for children and students of filmmaking. 
