Janusz Kamiński, the two-time Oscar-winning cinematographer, has been chosen to receive this year's THR Visionary in Cinematography Award. He will accept the honor on Nov. 7 at the ToruńCamerimage Film Festival.
The award celebrates Kamiński's outstanding contribution to the craft and his visionary influence on the visual language of modern filmmaking. It will be presented as part of ToruńCamerimage, the largest film festival devoted to the art of cinematography. The 34th edition of the festival runs Nov. 7 to 14.
Born in Poland, Kamiński is regarded as one of the most influential cinematographers working today. His long partnership with Steven Spielberg spans 20 films, including the director's latest, Disclosure Day, and has reshaped the visual grammar of Hollywood.
Two of those collaborations won him the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. The stark black-and-white of Schindler's List (1994) and the chaotic handheld battle sequences of Saving Private Ryan (1998) changed the look and feel of period dramas and war films. Both titles also appear on the American Society of Cinematographers' list of the best-photographed films of the 20th century.
Despite the consistent beauty of his work, no two Kamiński films look alike. His lens and color choices are matched to each story. Minority Report (2002) presents a tech-dystopian Washington bleached in cold blues and metallic noir shadows, while Munich (2005) draws on the aesthetics of 1970s thrillers and news footage. Outside his work with Spielberg, he shot Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007), using a radically restricted point of view and minute shifts in focus to convey the lead character's locked-in syndrome.
His personal story is as dramatic as the films he has shot. A political refugee from Poland who spoke no English on arrival, Kamiński studied first at Columbia College in Chicago and then at the American Film Institute. He worked his way up as a gaffer on no-budget Roger Corman productions and on TV movies.
His work on Diane Keaton's TV movie Wildflower (1991) persuaded Spielberg to hire him, first on the TV movie The Class of 61, which Spielberg produced, and then on Schindler's List.
Kamiński has also worked with filmmakers such as Judd Apatow on Funny People and Cameron Crowe on Jerry Maguire. Still, it is his collaboration with Spielberg that has brought him the greatest acclaim, including 6 of his 7 Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography.
