Best known for his cutting-edge documentaries in the 1970s and 80s, and the more recent involvement with the binomial culture/environment, Bodansky has, however, a parallel career as a photographer that precedes and shadows that of filmmaker.
Jorge entered the cinema through photography, hence his always visceral relationship with the camera. He was a student of Luis Humberto , Amelia Toledo and David Drew Zingg. Participated in collective exhibitions and had one of his works exhibited at the 8th Bienal de São Paulo (1965 ) , the first to integrate a photography section . Worked as photographer for newspaper Jornal da Tarde (SP) and Manchete magazine. In 1971 he won the international competition Asahi-Pentax with a series of photos of fisherwomen of Rio Grande do Norte.
A box of photographs was the resume he submitted to Alexander Kluge to study at the film school of Ulm , Germany. In the Amazon as photographer for Realidade magazine, he noticed in the movement of prostitutes and truckers a seed for Iracema (1975). Cinema then started to absorb him almost completely, relegating still photography to a parallel activity.