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CINEMATOGRAPHER · 1922–2015 · UNITED STATES

Haskell Wexler

Documentary-inflected realism and political engagement.

Born
1922
Died
2015
Country
United States
Field
Cinematographer
Haskell Wexler
Portrait: Institute of Policy Studies, CC BY 2.0

KNOWN FOR

  1. 1966Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
  2. 1967In the Heat of the Night
  3. 1969Medium Cool
  4. 1976Bound for Glory

WHY THEY MATTER

Won Academy Awards for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (the last black-and-white cinematography Oscar) and Bound for Glory, from five nominations; voted among the most influential cinematographers in history.

THE LIFE

Wexler was an American cinematographer and documentary filmmaker who won the Academy Award twice, for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and for Bound for Glory, from five nominations. His Virginia Woolf win was the last Oscar ever given for black-and-white cinematography. He also shot In the Heat of the Night and much of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. As a director he made Medium Cool, which mixed scripted scenes with documentary footage of the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Source: Wikipedia

Also born in 1900–1929

1901–1988 · Japan · Cinematographer

Asakazu Nakai

Kurosawa's camera for rain, mud and vast colour battlefields.

Seven Samurai, 1954Source: Wikipedia

1901–1996 · United States · Cinematographer

John Alton

Hard shadows and pools of light that defined film noir.

T-Men, 1947Source: Wikipedia

Gregg Toland

1904–1948 · United States · Cinematographer

Gregg Toland

Deep focus, with near and far planes sharp at once.

Citizen Kane, 1941Source: Wikipedia