Schindler’s List Schindler’s List Film Stills by David James Shooting on Schindler's List was a dream assignment for me;  The opportunity to work with Steven Spielberg for one and to shoot a whole movie in black and white was the icing on the cake.  We shot the film in and around the City of Krakow in Poland.  Every day was filled with great and important images.  This was not a frivolous film.  This was a serious document of those terrifying times. One of the moments that will live with me for ever was during a February day.  We were shooting outside the notorious concentration camp, Auschwitz Birkenau.  Light snow was falling but you could just see the sun vaguely through thin clouds.  The film crew were setting cameras for a night shoot.  Having time to spare, I walked back into the camp, photographing barbed wire fences, chimneys and huts.  As I reached the wreckage of Gas Oven number 2, I must have been on my own for nearly an hour.  Quite suddenly I felt as though I was being watched.  Watched by the many who had perished in this spot. I stopped shooting and backed out and away.  I do not spook easily but this place really got to me. During the course of filming I had the honour to meet and photograph many of the survivors whose names were on Oscar Schindler's List.  Their stories they told us were horrifying. This was the first of many movies I worked on with Steven, the subjects unfailingly challenging and rewarding. Steven is always very interested in the photographs you take.  He will always get involved in those moments when you want to set up something special. During our early days on Schindler, he said to me, "You are a second pair of eyes for me.  You have the freedom to wander round the set and find shots and angles that I don't see". Back to current issue