Dennis Hopper Self-Portrait

While shooting Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Dennis Hopper and James Dean became good friends. (Hopper was 19 and Dean was 24 when they shot the movie during the spring of 1955.)  Dean served as an artistic mentor to his friend — and gave Hopper his first camera, encouraging him to take it everywhere and shoot everything. Rebel was released in October 1955 —  a month after James Dean’s death in a car crash. Hopper was devastated by Dean’s passing — but paid tribute to his memory by applying himself to the art of photography. And a fine photographer he was, as evidenced by the above 1965 self-portrait. Hopper passed away in 2010 at age 74.

In 1955, James Dean Gave Dennis Hopper His First Camera

While shooting Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Dennis Hopper and James Dean became good friends. (Hopper was 19 and Dean was 24 when they shot the movie during the spring of 1955.)  Dean served as something of an artistic mentor to his friend — and gave Hopper his first camera, encouraging him to take it with him everywhere and shoot everything. Rebel was released in October 1955 —  a month after James Dean’s death in a car crash. Hopper was devastated by Dean’s passing — but paid tribute to his memory by applying himself to the art of photography. And a fine photographer he was, as evidenced by the above 1965 self-portrait.