The following is a list of notable film director and cinematographer collaborations. It is ordered by film director.
Films for which the cinematographer won the Academy Award are in bold.
Visions of Light is a 1992 documentary film directed by Arnold Glassman, Todd McCarthy and Stuart Samuels. The film covers the art of cinematography since the conception of cinema at the turn of the 20th century. It features numerous filmmakers and cinematographers as interview subjects, presenting their views and discussing the importance of cinematography in the craft of filmmaking.
Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C., is an Italian cinematographer widely recognized as one of the best and most influential in cinema history, for his work on numerous classic films including The Conformist (1970), Apocalypse Now (1979), and The Last Emperor (1987). In the course of over fifty years, he has collaborated with directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Ford Coppola, Warren Beatty, Woody Allen and Carlos Saura.
Sir Roger Alexander Deakins is an English cinematographer. He is the recipient of five BAFTA Awards for Best Cinematography, and two Academy Awards for Best Cinematography from sixteen nominations. He has collaborated multiple times with directors such as the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes, and Denis Villeneuve. His best-known works include The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Fargo (1996), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Skyfall (2012), Sicario (2015), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and 1917 (2019), the last two of which earned him Academy Awards.
Irwin Winkler is an American film producer and director. He is the producer or director of over 58 motion pictures, dating back to 1967's Double Trouble, starring Elvis Presley. The fourth film he produced, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), starring Jane Fonda, was nominated for nine Academy Awards. He won an Oscar for Best Picture for 1976's Rocky. As a producer, he has been nominated for Best Picture for four films: Rocky (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The Right Stuff (1983), and Goodfellas (1990).
Robert L. Surtees was an American cinematographer who won three Academy Awards for the films King Solomon's Mines, The Bad and the Beautiful and the 1959 version of Ben-Hur. Surtees worked at various studios, including Universal, UFA, Warner Brothers, and MGM, lighting for notable directors Howard Hawks, Mike Nichols, and William Wyler, gaining him a reputation as one of the most versatile cinematographers of his time.
Robert Bridge Richardson, ASC is an American cinematographer. Known for his trademark aggressively bright highlight as well as shapeshifting style, he is one of three living persons who has won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography three times, the others being Vittorio Storaro and Emmanuel Lubezki. He has frequently collaborated with Oliver Stone, Quentin Tarantino, and Martin Scorsese.
Burnett Guffey, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer.
Frederick James Koenekamp, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer. He was the son of cinematographer Hans F. Koenekamp.
Michael Ballhaus, A.S.C. was a German cinematographer. He is known for his work with directors including Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Martin Scorsese, Mike Nichols, James L. Brooks, and Wolfgang Petersen. He was a member of both the Academy of Arts, Berlin, and the American Society of Cinematographers.
Walter Lassally was a German-born British cinematographer. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 1965 for the film Zorba the Greek.
Owen Roizman was an American cinematographer. He received five Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography, for the films The French Connection (1971), The Exorcist (1973), Network (1976), Tootsie (1982), and Wyatt Earp (1994). He served on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was president of the American Society of Cinematographers.
Russell Paul Carpenter, ASC is an American cinematographer and photographer, known for collaborating with directors James Cameron, Robert Luketic and McG. He won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for the 1997 Best Picture-winning film Titanic.
Ernest Laszlo, A.S.C. was a Hungarian-American cinematographer for over 60 films, and was known for his frequent collaborations with directors Robert Aldrich and Stanley Kramer. He was a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, and was its president from 1972 to 1974. He was an active member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
Giuseppe Rotunno was an Italian cinematographer.
Brian Bansgrove was a New Zealand gaffer best known for his work on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
Thomas Del Ruth is a retired American cinematographer.
Philippe Rousselot, AFC, ASC is a French cinematographer and film director best known for his wide range of work in both European and mainstream American cinema, ranging in genres from drama, to fantasy, to blockbusters. He has collaborated with directors such as Robert Redford, Neil Jordan, Stephen Frears, Tim Burton, David Yates, and Guy Ritchie. He is the recipient of three César Awards, a BAFTA, an Oscar, and is a nominee for the Palme d'Or.
Vittorio Storaro is an Italian cinematographer, and member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and Italian Society of Cinematographers (AIC). Storaro's early films were made in his homeland of Italy, where he began early collaborations with Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci, with whom he has continued to collaborate with throughout his career. Storaro and Bertolucci's first major project was the 1970 film The Conformist, based on the Italian novel of the same name.
Hoyte van Hoytema is a Dutch-Swedish cinematographer. He has received two Academy Award for Best Cinematography nominations, for the Christopher Nolan–directed films Dunkirk (2017) and Oppenheimer (2023), winning the Oscar for the latter.
Robert McLachlan is a Canadian cinematographer. A successful cyclist in his youth, McLachlan quit the sport to take up cinematography, and entered the field after studying at Simon Fraser University, McLachlan was mentored by Richard Leiterman. His professional career began with documentary work for Greenpeace, before he became involved in both television and feature films; his work has subsequently earned him several industry awards and award nominations.
The cameraman Edvard Tissé was Eisenstein's lifelong collaborator in the creation of his films.
In this interview, Eric Rohmer discusses his ideas concerning the collaboration between the director and his cinematographer. Considering the question of who authors the image and his long collaboration with Nestor Almendros, ...