History
In its first film season, 1927–28, this award (like others such as the acting awards) was not tied to a specific film; all of the work by the nominated cinematographers during the qualifying period was listed after their names.
The problem with this system became obvious the first year, since Karl Struss and Charles Rosher were nominated for their work together on Sunrise but three other films shot individually by either Rosher or Struss were also listed as part of the nomination.
In the second year, 1929, there were no nominations at all, although the Academy has a list of unofficial titles that were under consideration by the Board of Judges.
In the third year, 1930, films, not cinematographers, were nominated, and the final award did not show the cinematographer’s name.
For the 1931 awards, the system in which individuals are nominated for a single film each was adopted in all categories.
From 1939 to 1967, with the exception of 1957, there were separate awards for color and for black-and-white cinematography.
Cinematography: Black-and White Winner
After Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), the most recent black-and-white films to win since then are: Schindler’s List (1993), Roma (2018) and Mank (2020).
Floyd Crosby won the award for Tabu in 1931, which was the last silent film to win in this category.
Hal Mohr
Hal Mohr won the only write-in Academy Award ever, in 1935 for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Mohr was also the first person to win for both black-and-white and color cinematography.
No winners are lost, although some of the earliest nominees (and of the unofficial nominees of 1928–29) are lost, including The Devil Dancer (1927), The Magic Flame (1927), and 4 Devils (1928). The Right to Love (1930) is incomplete, and Sadie Thompson (1927) is incomplete and partially reconstructed with stills.
David Lean
David Lean holds the record for the director with the most films that won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography at the Oscars with 5 wins out of 6 nominations for: Great Expectations, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and Ryan’s Daughter.
The first nominees shot primarily on digital video were The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire in 2009, with Slumdog Millionaire the first winner.
In 2010, Avatar was the first nominee and winner to be shot entirely on digital video.
Women Cinematographer
In 2018, Rachel Morrison became the first woman to receive nomination. Prior to that it had been the last gender-neutral Academy Award category to never nominate a woman.
In 2019, Alfonso Cuarón became the first winner of this category to have also served as director on the film, for his film Roma.
This followed a public dispute between Cuarón and the Academy over the Academy’s plan to shorten the Oscars broadcast by relegating four awards, including that for cinematography, to the commercial breaks in the show. Cuarón objected by saying, “In the history of cinema, masterpieces have existed without sound, without color, without a story, without actors and without music. No one single film has ever existed without cinematography …”
Facts and Trends:
Most awards:
Leon Shamroy 4 awards 1942 Awards resulted from 18 nominations.
Joseph Ruttenberg 1958 Awards resulted from 10 nominations.
Most nominations Leon Shamroy 18 nominations 1965 Nominations resulted in 4 awards.
Charles Lang 1972 Nominations resulted in 1 award.
Most consecutive awards Emmanuel Lubezki 3 consecutive awards 2013, 2014, 2015 Awards resulted from 8 nominations.
Oldest winner: Conrad Hall, Age 76, 2002
Hall died just two months before the awards ceremony. Hall is also the oldest non-posthumous winner, at age 73, in 1999.
Oldest nominee Asakazu Nakai, Age 84, 1985. Nakai shared the nomination with two others.
Youngest winner Floyd Crosby, Age 31, 1930/1931
Youngest nominee, Edward Cronjager, Age 27, 1930/1931
Most nominations without an award George Folsey 13 nominations 1963
First female nominee Rachel Morrison, 2017
Nominee-winner who also directed the film: Alfonso Cuarón Cuarón served as director and director of photography for Roma, 2018
