Overshadowed by the film's technological gizmos and special effects, the opening Dawn of Man sequence remains one of Stanley Kubrick's most outstanding achievements. These snapshots were taken at the "ape-men"'s reunion, held in May 2002 at the London Zoo.
Featured in the shots are Richard Woods, Tony Jackson, David Charkham, Stuart Freeborn and, of course, Dan Richter ("Moonwatcher").
See also the Underview Dawn of Man Story.
 

The black monolith was originally meant to be transparent and a trial casting was made - at the time, the largest single block that had ever been made. Its optical and photographic qualities were unacceptable, however - hence the change to the black version.

But the original, far from being destroyed, has been on public display in London since 1977 (near the Tower of London). How many thousands have passed it without giving it a second glance?
 

Her Majesty the Queen unveiled the sculpture on June 5th 1977."
 

An elaborate hoax to greet the year 2001. Not sure if there was any significance in Seattle being chosen as the location, given what we know about the effects of the monolith. Anyone noticed anything strange about people there in the last year or so? Love these pictures.
 

Hard to love these, when you think of that stunning sweep through the space station's rings as Kubrick waltzes with his hardware.

We are further now than we were in 1968 from the reality of such an inspiring structure. It was only ever a dream...

You will find more pictures and information at http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/
faq/html/spacestation.html
and
http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/
faq/fullindex.html
 

Master Models in the U.K. made some of the original props for 2001. Here are two examples, which provide useful reference checks for modelers seeking authenticity. These items are included in Master Models web site,
http://www.mastermodels.co.uk.

The helmet is shown in more detail here.
 

Leonard Rossiter - "Dr Smyslov" - reminds us why Stanley Kubrick held him in such high regard as an actor. Terrific atmospheric shot of the film during projection.

The muttered conversation in Russian that ended this shot has puzzled people ever since the film first appeared.
  The female scientist remarks: "Im navernoe ochen' trudno" ("They must have had a very hard time").
  Margaret Tyzack replies: "Da, ochen' trudno" ("Yes, they must").

It suggests that the subject of their concern was nothing to do with Floyd, but was the crew of the Russian craft that was denied permission for an emergency landing.