Best Cinematographers

1. Gregg Toland

Cinematographer | Citizen Kane

Born in Illinois in 1904, the only child of Jennie and Frank Toland, Gregg and his mother moved to California several years after his parents divorced in 1910. Through Jennie's work as a housekeeper for several people in the movie business, Gregg may had gotten a $12-a-week job at age 15 as an ...

2. Jack Cardiff

Cinematographer | Black Narcissus

Almost universally considered one of the greatest cinematographers of all time, Jack Cardiff was also a notable director. He described his childhood as very happy and his parents as quite loving. They performed in music hall as comedians, so he grew up with the fun that came with their theatrical ...

3. Vittorio Storaro

Cinematographer | Apocalypse Now

Vittorio Storaro, the award-winning cinematographer who won Oscars for "Apocalypse Now (1979)", "Reds (1981)" and "The Last Emperor (1987)". He was born on June 24, 1940 in Rome, where his father was a projectionist at the Lux Film Studio. At the age of 11, he began studying photography at a ...

4. Conrad L. Hall

Cinematographer | Road to Perdition

Born in Tahiti, the son of writer James Norman Hall, author of "Mutiny on the Bounty," Conrad Hall studied filmmaking at USC. He and two classmates formed a production company and sold a project to a local television station. Hall's company branched out into making industrial films and TV ...

5. Roger Deakins

Cinematographer | Blade Runner 2049

Roger Deakins is an English cinematographer best known for his work on the films of the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes, and Denis Villeneuve.

He is a member of both the American and British Society of Cinematographers.

Deakins' first feature film in America as cinematographer was Mountains of the Moon (...

6. Janusz Kaminski

Cinematographer | War Horse

Janusz Kaminski is a Polish cinematographer and film director. He has established a partnership with Steven Spielberg, working as a cinematographer on his movies since 1993. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998).

His ...

7. Wally Pfister

Cinematographer | Inception

Wally Pfister is an American cinematographer and film director, who is best known for his work with Christopher Nolan. He is also known for his work on director F. Gary Gray's The Italian Job (2003) and Bennett Miller's Moneyball (2011).

He made his directorial debut with the film Transcendence (...

8. Sven Nykvist

Cinematographer | The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Sven Nykvist was considered by many in the industry to be one of the world's greatest cinematographers. During his long career that spanned almost half a century, Nyvist perfected the art of cinematography to its most simple attributes, and he helped give the films he had worked on the simplest and...

9. Bruno Delbonnel

Cinematographer | The Tragedy of Macbeth

Bruno Delbonnel was born in 1957 in Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France. He is a cinematographer and director, known for The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), A Very Long Engagement (2004) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013).

10. V.K. Murthy

Cinematographer | Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam

V.K. Murthy was born on November 26, 1923 in Mysore, India. He was a cinematographer, known for Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962), Paper Flowers (1959) and Baaz (1953). He died on April 7, 2014 in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

11. Jordan Cronenweth

Cinematographer | Blade Runner

Jordan Cronenweth was born on February 20, 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for Blade Runner (1982), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and Altered States (1980). He was married to Carolyn June Ervin. He died on November 29, 1996 in Los Angeles, California, ...

12. Gordon Willis

Cinematographer | Zelig

Gordon Willis was an American cinematographer. He's best known for his work on Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather films, as well asWoody Allen's Annie Hall (1977) and Manhattan (1979).

His work on the first two Godfather films turned out to be groundbreaking in its use of low-light photography and ...

13. Santosh Sivan

Cinematographer | Asoka

Santosh Sivan was born on February 8, 1964 in India. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Asoka (2001), Halo (1996) and The Terrorist (1998).

14. Ashok Mehta

Cinematographer | Moksha: Salvation

Ashok Mehta was born in 1947 in Punjab, India. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for Moksha: Salvation (2001), 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981) and Chalte Chalte (2003). He died on August 15, 2012 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

15. Anthony Dod Mantle

Cinematographer | Slumdog Millionaire

Anthony Dod Mantle was born on April 14, 1955 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK. He is a cinematographer, known for Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Antichrist (2009) and The Last King of Scotland (2006).

16. Emmanuel Lubezki

Cinematographer | Children of Men

Lubezki began his career in Mexican film and television productions in the late 1980s. His first international production was the 1993 independent film Twenty Bucks (1993), which followed the journey of a single twenty-dollar bill.

Lubezki is a frequent collaborator with fellow Mexican filmmaker ...

17. Govind Nihalani

Cinematographer | Droh Kaal

Govind Nihalani was born on August 19, 1940 in Karachi, Sindh, British India. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Droh Kaal (1994), Aakrosh (1980) and Dev (2004).

18. Rajiv Menon

Cinematographer | Kandukondain Kandukondain

Rajiv Menon, Founder of "Rajiv Menon Productions", born in Kerala, joined the Film and Television Institute of Chennai in 1981, to study cinematography. In 1984, he went to America to train under cinematographer Garret Brown, best known for his invention of the Steadicam. In 1986, Rajiv founded "...

19. Matthew Libatique

Cinematographer | Black Swan

Matthew Libatique is an American cinematographer. He is best known for his work with director Darren Aronofsky on the films Pi (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Fountain (2006), Black Swan (2010), Noah (2014) and Mother! (2017). He also shot Bradley Cooper's directorial debut film, A Star Is ...

20. P.C. Sreeram

Cinematographer | Nayakan

P.C. Sreeram was born on January 26, 1956 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Nayakan (1987), 13B: Fear Has a New Address (2009) and Ishq (2012).

21. Subrata Mitra

Cinematographer | Pather Panchali

From 1997 until his death, Subrata Mitra taught cinematography at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) at Kolkata, India. Subrata Mitra won the National Award for his work in Ramesh Sharma's New Delhi Times in 1985, and the Eastman Kodak Lifetime Achievement for Excellence in ...

22. Stuart Dryburgh

Cinematographer | The Piano

Stuart Dryburgh was born on March 30, 1952 in London, England, UK. He is a cinematographer, known for The Piano (1993), The Great Wall (2016) and The Painted Veil (2006).

His work in 'The Piano' is a masterpiece.

23. Chris Menges

Cinematographer | Michael Collins

As an Academy Award-winning cinematographer who made the successful segue to directing features, Chris Menges has carved out a successful, but understated career. Menges got his start as an assistant editor and camera operator and even worked as a sound recordist several times, before working his ...

24. Jeff Cronenweth

Cinematographer | Gone Girl

Jeff Cronenweth was born on January 14, 1962 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Gone Girl (2014), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) and The Social Network (2010).

25. Ravi K. Chandran

Cinematographer | Black

Ravi K. Chandran, ISC is an Indian cinematographer, and director known for his works in Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Bollywood. He is the founding member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC). His most recognized works are Minsaara Kanavu (1997), , Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000), ...

26. Robert Richardson

Cinematographer | Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Robert Richardson has won three Academy Awards and earned seven Academy Award nominations for his cinematography. His work on director Oliver Stone's JFK earned him his first Oscar. His second and third came with The Aviator and Hugo directed by Martin Scorsese. These two films also garnered him ...

27. Rodrigo Prieto

Cinematographer | Brokeback Mountain

Rodrigo Prieto is a Mexican cinematographer. He is best known for Brokeback Mountain (2005), Babel (2006), Argo (2012), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and Silence (2016).

He also worked with Alejandro González Iñárritu on the acclaimed Amores perros (2000), 21 Grams (2003), and Biutiful (2010).

...

28. Nataraja Subramanian

Cinematographer | Holiday

Nataraja Subramanian was born in Paramakudi, Tamil Nadu, India. He is known for Holiday (2014), Jab We Met (2007) and Raanjhanaa (2013).

29. Tassaduq Hussain

Cinematographer | Omkara

Tassaduq Hussain is known for Omkara (2006), Kaminey (2009) and Dahmer (2002).

30. Seamus McGarvey

Cinematographer | Atonement

SEAMUS McGARVEY (Director of Photography) has collected two Academy Award nominations for his cinematography: on Joe Wright's 2007 WWI drama "Atonement," and his 2012 adaptation of Tolstoy's classic, "Anna Karenina." In addition to the Oscar nominations, McGarvey won the British Society of ...

31. Vilmos Zsigmond

Cinematographer | Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Along with László Kovács, a fellow student who fled Hungary in 1956, Zsigmond rose to prominence in the 1970s. He is known for his use of natural light and vivid use of color on features such as The Long Goodbye (1973) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).

32. Freddie Young

Cinematographer | Lawrence of Arabia

Freddie Young was a British cinematographer. He is best known for his work on David Lean's films Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965) and Ryan's Daughter (1970), all three of which won him Academy Awards for Best Cinematography.

Young was an cinematographer on 130 films, including ...

33. Robert Elswit

Cinematographer | There Will Be Blood

Robert Elswit is an American cinematographer. He is best known for Boogie Nights (1997), Magnolia (1999), Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), There Will Be Blood (2007), Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), Inherent Vice (2014), and Nightcrawler (2014).

Elswit frequently works with director ...

34. Yu Cao

Cinematographer | Nanjing! Nanjing!

Cao Yu (born August 15, 1974) is a Chinese cinematographer and the founder of Bad Rabbit Pictures. He is a member of both the American and Chinese Society of Cinematographers.

Cao Yu began his cinematic career after graduating from the Department of Film Photography at the Beijing Film Academy in ...

35. Douglas Slocombe

Cinematographer | Rollerball

London-born Douglas Slocombe has long been regarded as one of the film industry's premiere cinematographers, but he began his career as a photojournalist for Life magazine and the Paris-Match newspaper before World War II. During the war he became a newsreel cameraman, and at war's end he went to ...

36. William A. Fraker

Cinematographer | Bullitt

William A. Fraker was born on September 29, 1923 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Bullitt (1968), WarGames (1983) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). He was married to Denise Fraker. He died on May 31, 2010 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

37. Néstor Almendros

Cinematographer | Days of Heaven

One of the highest appraised contemporary cinematographers. He was born in Spain but moved to Cuba by age 18 to join his exiled anti-Franco father. In Havana, he founded a cineclub and wrote film reviews. Then, he went on to study in Rome at the Centro Sperimentale. He directed six shorts in Cuba ...

38. Claudio Miranda

Cinematographer | Life of Pi

Claudio Miranda was born in March 1965 in Valparaíso, Chile. He is a cinematographer and actor, known for Life of Pi (2012), Top Gun: Maverick (2022) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). He has been married to Kelli Bean since February 2009.

39. S. Tirru

Cinematographer | 24

He had initially worked as an associate to cinematographer P. C. Sreeram. Tirru's films are predominantly in the Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi languages. He co-wrote the screenplay of the Malayalam film Mission 90 Days with director Major Ravi. He is also known for television commercials, having shot ...

40. Balu Mahendra

Cinematographer | Moondram Pirai

Balu Mahendra was born on May 20, 1939 in Sri Lanka. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Moondram Pirai (1982), Kokila (1977) and Veedu (1988). He was married to Ahileshwari. He died on February 13, 2014 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

41. K.K. Mahajan

Cinematographer | Maya Darpan

K.K. Mahajan was born on October 2, 1944 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. K.K. was a cinematographer and director, known for Maya Darpan (1972), Chehre Pe Chehra (1981) and Kalicharan (1976). K.K. died on July 13, 2007 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

42. Soumendu Roy

Camera_department | Pather Panchali

Soumendu Roy was born on February 7, 1933 in British India. He was a cinematographer, known for Pather Panchali (1955), Saranga (1961) and Chiriyakhana (1967). He died on September 27, 2023 in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

43. Rob Hardy

Cinematographer | Annihilation

Rob Hardy ASC BSC is a British Cinematographer known for his ground breaking work on Mission Impossible: Fallout, and his ongoing collaboration with Alex Garland: Ex-Machina, Annihilation, Devs, Men and most recently, the visceral epic Civil War.

He also won the BAFTA for cinematography on the ...

44. Greig Fraser

Cinematographer | Dune

Greig Fraser was born on October 3, 1975 in Melbourne, Australia. He is a cinematographer and producer, known for Dune (2021), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and Zero Dark Thirty (2012). He is married to Jodie Fried. They have three children.

45. Robbie Ryan

Cinematographer | Poor Things

Robbie Ryan is an Irish cinematographer. He is best known for his work in Fish Tank (2009), Slow West (2015), American Honey (2016) and The Favourite (2018) for which he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Achievement in Cinematography.

Ryan has already work in more than 90 projects as an ...

46. Harris Savides

Cinematographer | Elephant

Harris Savides was born on September 28, 1957 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for Elephant (2003), Zodiac (2007) and Birth (2004). He was married to Medine Chenet. He died on October 9, 2012 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.