Janusz Kaminski

Biography

As the director of photography on many of director Steven Spielberg's films, Janusz Kaminski created some of the most lasting and memorable images in cinema history. 

Whether filming "Schindler's List" (1993) in stark black-and-white, giving the film a cold documentary feel, or using nausea-inducing, hand-held shots while storming the beaches of Normandy in "Saving Private Ryan" (1998), Kaminski had the unique gift of maintaining an air of realism, while using a wide array of washed-out color schemes, hyperkinetic movement and other visual trickery to draw the audience into the action. 

A naturally gifted cinematographer, Kaminski had an inauspicious start in Hollywood, making B-movies for low-budget impresario Roger Corman, whose production facility was the proving grounds for many later A-list filmmakers. 

Eventually, with a great deal of resilience and a bit of luck, Kaminski honed his craft to the point where he was noticed by none other than Spielberg. Following "Schindler's List," a stunning and diverse list of achievements with the director followed, among them "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" (2001), "Catch Me if You Can" (2002), and "Munich" (2005). 

A rare non-Spielberg endeavor, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (2007), earned Kaminski some of the highest accolades of his career, while his reunion with the director on the momentous biopic "Lincoln" (2012) arguably surpassed all that had come before. 

In the eyes of many, Kaminski had established himself as both the best-known and the finest cinematographer of his generation.