“Full Metal Jacket Diary,” is a photographic exhibition of images captured by actor Matthew Modine during the filming of the 1987 Vietnam War film classic “Full Metal Jacket.” The photos will be on display at the National Veterans Memorial and Museum beginning in mid-October through the end of the year.

This temporary exhibition is a glimpse into the making of a war film that is often said to transcend time while also giving the viewer an inside look at the brilliance of the film’s director, Stanley Kubrick.

The exhibition includes dozens of images captured during the filming of the movie and printed on metal. Modine, who played war correspondent Pvt Joker in the movie, related how Kubrick advised him to capture photos during the film’s production. “He told me about a state-of-the-art 35mm camera and which lens I should get. The important part of this story is that he said, ‘If you’re going to take pictures on my set.’ That was something unheard of.

And I took full advantage of that invitation,” Modine said in an earlier interview.

Modine felt keeping a photographic and written diary would be a beneficial opportunity for his preparation as a war correspondent in the film. Now the images mean even more to him. “I can look back at those days as being part of another person’s life, this young kid who went on a journey to work with the legendary filmmaker, Stanley Kubrick,” Modine said.

About Matthew Modine

Matthew Modine may be best known for his role as Private/Sergeant J.T. “Joker” Davis, the central character of Stanley Kubrick’s Vietnam War film Full Metal Jacket. He shared the Venice Film Festival‘s Volpi Cup for Best Actor as part of the ensemble cast of Robert Altman film Streamers (1983). He went on to play lead roles in several high-profile films throughout the 1980s, including Birdy (1984), Vision Quest (1985), and Married to the Mob (1988).

Modine has been nominated twice for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television and has received a special Golden Globe for him and the rest of the ensemble in Short Cuts.