How ‘The Bikeriders’ Photographer Captured Austin Butler’s Bridge Shot

On-set photographer Kyle Bono Kaplan and art photographer Bryan Schutmaat have collaborated to showcase their work taken during the shooting of Jeff Nichols’ film “The Bikeriders” in a new coffee table book titled “Vandals: The Photography of The Bikeriders.”

“The Bikeriders” is a drama directed by Nichols and stars Austin Butler, Jodie Comer and Tom Hardy. It is adapted from Danny Lyon’s book, and follows the rise and fall of a fictional 1960s motorcycle club in the Midwest. Michael Shannon, Mike Faist and Norman Reedus round out the ensemble.

The book is out May 8, published by Inside Editions, and the film is out June 21. Here Kaplan and Schutmaat share stories behind the rare on-set moments.

Vandals: The Photography of The Bikeriders

Kaplan captured Hardy who plays Johnny in between takes as the actor was riding back to set. Kaplan noticed the natural lighting and was struck by how the trees were lit. As he waited for Hardy who had wrapped a take, he waited and captured the actor using a “longer lens with a slower shutter speed.” Says Kaplan, “I really wanted that shot.”

Similarly, Schutmaat had been looking at Lyon’s work and found himself inspired to take photos of the cast and extras from the back. “I just liked what the costume department had done with the text, I found it compelling, and we used the logo inside the book elsewhere because we really liked it.”

Schutmaat found further inspiration in Lyon’s work, this time shooting actor Michael Shannon through a window. Schutmaat explains, “Danny often shot through windows, windshields and car windows, so I had that in mind.”

In this moment, Shannon was in between takes, waiting to go back on set. To capture him at that angle Schutmaat says he had to bend down in order to get the camera level with the car window. “He wasn’t acting there. He’s just resting, and I love that sense of authenticity in photos, and I think this moment demonstrates that.”

Kaplan had wanted a photo of Butler on his bike. It was to be the hero shot for the book and film’s promotion. So, Kaplan needed to get it right.

The crew had access to the bridge for a few hours and so they propped a camera crane on a car to capture the sequence. Kaplan also had his monochrome camera rigged to the crane. “This was the shot of shots, the hero shot, and I wanted to give credit to the past and pay homage to Danny.” Adds Kaplan, “Austin did that sequence in two takes, and I had set my camera up. It was on hyperfocal distance. I locked the lens with tape, and sent the camera out with a two-second interval timer.”

Says Kaplan, “That was the single only frame where Austin is looking back, and it’s the only frame we used.”

In paying homage, the photo is a mirror-image of Lyon’s shot. “It’s cool to showcase it this way because it shows that we are seeing cinema and Austin. It’s the merging of the cinematic world and the photographic world in one frame, just by changing that to an actor and showcasing the face.”