“Today, we take photography for granted. Anyone can take a photograph simply by pressing a button. Yet, it was not always so simple. The invention of photography was announced in 1839, but during its first fifty years taking a photograph was a complicated and expensive business. In 1888, all this was to change following the appearance of a camera that was to revolutionize photography. Popular photography can properly be said to have started 120 years ago with the introduction of the Kodak”. – The UK National Media Museum. Photo: Two men on the deck of a ship, about 1890. (Photo by Collection of National Media Museum/Kodak Museum)

Photographer Howard Schatz had an idea: place actors in a series of roles and dramatic situations to reveal the essence of their characters. Such was the premise behind his book, In Character: Actors Acting, which captures some of Hollywood’s most emotive stars in the act of, well, making faces. Luckily for us, he continued the tradition for Vanity Fair. Here are some of the best.

Children hitch a ride with a passing tram in Dnipro, Ukraine on March 19, 2024. (Photo by Jack Hill/The Times)

Yin and yang. Sеxy women grey background. Sensual women in erotic lingerie. (Photo by Alamy Stock Photo)

A huge wave crashes against Castlerock pier as professional surfer Al Mennie waits on a break in the swell on December 22, 2016 in Coleraine, Northern Ireland. Storm Barbara is expected to cause major travel disruption when it hits northern parts of the UK later with 90mph winds predicted. The Met Office has issued an amber warning with the worst effects of the storm expected on Friday and Saturday. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

A kid casts his hand's shadow as kids play with light in “L'art dans la nature, Dali universe” an open air light show at Parc de la Villette in Paris, France on November 19, 2023. (Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

Staff members clean the court during the Women's Preliminary Round - Pool B volleyball match between China and Argentina on day ten of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Arena on August 2, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)