Our Picks for the Best Cinematographers of All Time

Wondering who made our list of the best cinematographers of all time? It wasn’t easy for us at Peerspace to compile this list, considering all the talented cinematographers out there and the depth of their work. Cinematographers control all the visual elements on screen in a film. Their work touches on everything from lighting, camera movement, composition, lens choice, and depth of field. Therefore, it’s no wonder they have great influence over whether or not the film succeeds.

Sure, a list of the top cinematographers of all time is subjective. Yet it’s easy to agree on the fact that Peerspace is a great tool for any filmmaker trying to find their next shooting location. A talented cinematographer can create movie magic from the simplest location. And with Peerspace’s unique options, that magic is limitless. Ahead, we’ll share images from real Peerspace production spaces that you can book today for your shoot. That said, here are a few of the best cinematographers who are still working today — let’s analyze what makes them outstanding.

1. Emmanuel Lubezki

It isn’t a list of the best cinematographers of all time without Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki. He has garnered Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography eight times, winning three times for Gravity (2013), Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), and The Revenant (2015).

That’s right — those are consecutive wins, the first cinematographer ever to achieve that. He is a frequent collaborator with Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro Iñárritu, and Terrence Malick, together having created the most stunning images in cinema.

We think Lubezki’s work is most unique because of his preference for natural light paired with his wide-angled close-ups. These two pairings work beautifully in his photography as well. He usually sticks to wide lenses, as he has a talent for creating seamless long takes. It gives the viewer an immersive experience when watching his shots.

In essence, he’s an innovative cinematographer who regularly uses new technology and techniques to get the story’s perfect shot. Below is an example from Cuarón’s film, Children of Men:

The crew used a special camera rig to fit within the frame of a tricked-out car. The car would unhinge itself to make room for the camera as it swerved around capturing the actors’ performances. When filming the scene, Lubezki and the camera team were right above the car, controlling the action.

2. Roger Deakins

Roger Deakins is a household name among the film community. With an expansive filmography of over 50 films, he hasn’t had one misstep. Surprisingly, Deakins, though nominated 15 times, has only recently won Oscars for Best Cinematography: Blade Runner 2049 (2018) and 1917 (2019). His frequent collaborators include Denis Villeneuve, Sam Mendes, and the Coen Brothers.

What defines a Deakins’ shot is simple lighting. He doesn’t fuss around with too many lights, working well using a single light source. He has at least one silhouette shot in all his films. Deakins’ trademark is using the balance of light and darkness to bring emphasis to the character’s inner struggle.

His photography is dramatic, gritty, or even edgy, but he keeps the shot grounded to the world of the film. That is the case in Villeneuve’s Sicario — here’s a sequence that brings all those Deakins traits together:

3. Hoyte van Hoytema

Hoyte Van Hoytema reached wide acclaim once he began his collaboration with Christopher Nolan in 2014 with Interstellar. Shortly after, he earned his first Oscar nomination for his work in his second collaboration with Nolan, the wartime thriller, Dunkirk (2017). Hoytema has also teamed up with numerous other auteurs, like Spike Jonze, Sam Mendes, and James Gray.

Hoytema is more than adept at shooting with IMAX large format film, which turned out gorgeously in Dunkirk and sci-fi adventure flick Ad Astra (2019). And with the refined eye he has, it’s more than worth it to catch his work on a massive screen. According to his collaborators, he has a knack for making the lighting source so subtle that it becomes easy to forget that it’s the lighting is unnatural.

He’s often engineering new ways to shoot scenes that are larger than life. Take a look at this scene from Ad Astra and note how they lit the scene with what appears to be the light from just the sun:

4. Chung-hoon Chung

You cannot overstate Chung-hoon Chung’s impact on Korean cinema, especially when paired with the likes of a master like Park-Chan Wook, his frequent collaborator. Their first movie together, Oldboy (2003) became an instant classic, even inspiring an American adaptation. Recently, he’s made the move over to Hollywood, working on blockbusters like It (2017) and indie films like Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl (2015).

The movies Chung works on often deal with an unhinged character or dive into surrealism; thus, a lot of his cinematography features an analysis of the character’s psychology. His shots match the stories in levels of absurdity he’s not afraid to explore. Plus, he makes use of vibrant colors and heavy contrasts.

He will overexpose and underexpose his shots to bring a real sense of separation between outcast characters and the rest of their world. He breaks rules and creates new techniques of his own. Many consider this scene from Oldboy one of the best fight sequences of all time. Take a look at the heavy contrast and the way the main character slips in and out of shadow:

5. Bradford Young

Bradford Young is the youngest on this list but already one of the best cinematographers of all time — and he is just only developing his style. Young is the first African American to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography. His nomination came after shooting sci-fi flick Arrival (2016), a film Roger Deakins couldn’t shoot due to scheduling conflicts. He frequently collaborates with Ava DuVernay, both on TV projects like When They See Us and in film with Selma (2014).

Young has mentioned he likes to find himself or someone he knows in the story, then shoots from that perspective. With that empathetic approach, and since he is usually his own camera operator, this gives him the advantage of connecting with the actor in front of him.

Known for underexposing and using what light is available, he only adds light with a soft bounce to the subject’s face. In fact, you can see an example of his lighting preferences here in this scene from Arrival: 

6. Rachel Morrison

American cinematographer Rachel Morrison is a talent whose work has shined in independent films and blockbusters alike. She was nominated for the Oscar in 2018 for her work on Mudbound, the first female cinematographer to be nominated. Morrison was also the cinematographer on Ryan Coogler’s epic Black Panther.

Her style is notable for its emphatic style, often shooting from the third-person perspective. Her sweeping vistas allow viewers to appreciate the joy or turmoil the characters experience. For instance, check out these popular shots from her work on Black Panther:

7. Erik Messerschmidt

Erik Messerschmidt is one of the most recent Oscar winner for cinematography, having won for David Fincher’s Mank in 2021, after teaming with him in the director’s Netflix series, Mindhunter. Though his career is still relatively young, Messerschmidt is well on his way to developing a signature style.

And that isn’t exactly easy to do, especially when you consider Mank and its stylistic nod to Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane. For example, just check out this scene in which we see Mank on voting night in the California governor’s race in 1934:

Bonus: Wally Pfister

Wally Pfister is an American cinematographer best known for his collaboration with director Christopher Nolan. In fact, he has worked on Nolan’s The Prestige, The Dark Knight, and Inception, to name but a few. He is known for a couple of distinct shooting styles, such as his rich and moody Gothic sets and his tendency to break the 180-degree rule, making the audience’s relationship with the characters as jarring as the character’s realities.

Originally from Chicago, Pfister is also a director, having made his directorial debut with 2014’s Transcendence. Check out this YouTube video that details his proclivity for wide-angle shots, IMAX, and shooting with film over digital.

Peerspace + the best cinematographers = movie magic

Though these cinematographers are the crème de la crème in our book, we recommend looking up other talented cinematographers, such as Robert Elswit, Reed Morano, and Rodrigo Prieto, just to name a few. They all have their own strengths as well as their unique and experienced eyes that make them stand apart from the rest.

Ensure that your film stands out by hiring a talented cinematographer and booking Peerspace filming locations! Peerspace has thousands of production-worthy venues in cities and towns across North America and beyond. All spaces are owned by locals who are dedicated to making your vision come to life. Since bookings are available by the hour, you can save time and money while also broadening your selection! And be sure to keep an eye on Peerspace filmmaker resources articles to stay up to date on production locations, techniques, and trends.

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