ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The 'Academy Award for Best Cinematography' is awarded each year to a cinematographer for his work in one particular motion picture.
In its first year, 1927-8, 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. The second year, 1928-9, there were no nominations at all, although the Academy has a list of unofficial titles which were under consideration by the Board of Judges. In the third year, 1929-30, films, not cinematographers, were nominated, and the final award did not show the cinematographer's name.
Finally, for the 1931 awards, the modern system in which the nomination is tied to a single film was adopted in all categories. From 1939 to 1967 (with the single exception of 1957), there were also separate awards for color and for black and white cinematography. Since then, the only black and white film to win is ''Schindler's List'' (1993).
Floyd Crosby won the last Academy Award to go to a silent film for ''Tabu'' in 1931. 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 1928-9) are lost, including ''The Devil Dancer'' (1927), ''The Magic Flame'' (1927), and ''Four Devils'' (1928). ''The Right To Love'' (1930) is incomplete, and ''Sadie Thompson'' (1927) is incomplete and partially reconstructed with stills.

Contents

Multiple Winners

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

Multiple Winners

Joseph Ruttenberg (1938, 1942, 1956, 1958) and Leon Shamroy (1942, 1944, 1945, 1963) are the only cinematographers who have won this award four times. Shamroy was the first back-to-back winner.
Three-time winners are: Arthur C. Miller (1941, 1943, 1946), Winton Hoch (1948, 1949, 1952; the second of only three back-to-back winners); Robert Surtees (1950, 1952, 1959); Freddie Young (1962, 1965, 1970); Vittorio Storaro (1979, 1981, 1987); and Conrad Hall (1969, 1999, 2002).
Fifteen other cinematographers have won the award twice. These include John Toll, the only other person to win back-to-back awards, in 1994 and 1995.
The director whose films have won the most cinematography Academy Awards is David Lean, with five (1947, 1957, 1962, 1965, 1970).

1920s

★ 1928 - 'Charles Rosher' and 'Karl Struss', '''Sunrise'''

★ 1929 - 'Clyde DeVinna', '''White Shadows in the South Seas'''

1930s

★ 1930 - 'Joseph T. Rucker' and 'Willard Van Der', '''With Byrd at the South Pole'''

★ 1931 - 'Floyd Crosby', ''''

★ 1932 - 'Lee Garmes' '''Shanghai Express'''

★ 1933 - 'Charles Bryant Lang. Jr', '''A Farewell to Arms'''

★ 1934 - 'Victor Milner', '''Cleopatra'''

★ 1935 - 'Hal Mohr', '''A Midsummer Night's Dream'''
:NOTE: This was and still is the only time in the history of the Academy Awards that a write-in candidate won in any category: Mohr had not been nominated by his fellow cinematographers, but won the award on the strength of an overwhelming write-in campaign by the full membership.

★ 1936 - 'Gaetano Gaudio', '''Anthony Adverse'''

★ 1937 - 'Karl Freund', '''The Good Earth'''

★ 1938 - 'Joseph Ruttenberg', '''The Great Waltz'''
'From 1939, there were separate awards for Black and White and for Color:'

★ 1939 - 'Gregg Toland', '''Wuthering Heights''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Ernest Haller' and 'Ray Rennahan', '''Gone with the Wind''' '(Color)'

1940s

★ 1940 - 'George Barnes', '''Rebecca''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'George Perinal', '''The Thief of Bagdad''' '(Color)'

★ 1941 - 'Arthur C. Miller', '''How Green Was My Valley''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Ernest Palmer' and 'Ray Rennahan', '''Blood and Sand''' '(Color)'

★ 1942 - 'Joseph Ruttenberg', '''Mrs. Miniver''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Leon Shamroy', '''The Black Swan''' '(Color)'

★ 1943 - 'Arthur C. Miller', '''The Song of Bernadette''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Hal Mohr' and 'W. Howard Greene', '''The Phantom of the Opera''' '(Color)'

★ 1944 - 'Joseph LaShelle', '''Laura''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Leon Shamroy', '''Wilson''' '(Color)'

★ 1945 - 'Harry Stradling', '''Picture of Dorian Gray''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Leon Shamroy', '''Leave Her to Heaven'''

★ 1946 - 'Arthur C. Miller', '''Anna and the King of Siam''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Charles Rosher', 'Leonard Smith' and 'Arthur Arling', '''The Yearling''' '(Color)'

★ 1947 - 'Guy Green', '''Great Expectations''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Jack Cardiff', '''Black Narcissus''' '(Color)'

★ 1948 - 'William Daniels', '''The Naked City''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Joseph Valentine', 'William V. Skall' and 'Winton Hoch', '''Joan of Arc''' '(Color)'

★ 1949 - 'Paul C. Vogel', '''Battleground''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Winton Hoch', '''She Wore a Yellow Ribbon''' '(Color)'

1950s

★ 1950 - 'Robert Krasker', '''The Third Man''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Robert Surtees', '''King Solomon's Mines''' '(Color)'

★ 1951 - 'William C. Mellor', '''A Place in the Sun''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Alfred Gilks' and 'John Alton', '''An American in Paris''' '(Color)'

★ 1952 - 'Robert Surtees', '''The Bad and the Beautiful''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Winton Hoch' and 'Archie Stout', '''The Quiet Man''' '(Color)'

★ 1953 - 'Burnett Guffey', '''From Here to Eternity ''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Loyal Griggs', '''Shane''' '(Color)'

★ 1954 - 'Boris Kaufman', '''On the Waterfront''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Milton R. Krasner', '''Three Coins in the Fountain''' '(Color)'

★ 1955 - 'James Wong Howe', '''The Rose Tattoo''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Robert Burks', '''To Catch a Thief''' '(Color)'

★ 1956 - 'Joseph Ruttenberg', '''Somebody Up There Likes Me''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Lionel Lindon', '''Around the World in Eighty Days''' '(Color)'
'For 1957, there was a single award:'

★ 1957 - 'Jack Hildyard', '''The Bridge on the River Kwai'''
'From 1958, there were separate awards for Black and White and for Color:'

★ 1958 - 'Sam Leavitt', '''The Defiant Ones''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Joseph Ruttenberg', '''Gigi''' '(Color)'

★ 1959 - 'William C. Mellor', '''The Diary of Anne Frank''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Robert Surtees', '''Ben-Hur''' '(Color)'

1960s

★ 1960 - 'Freddie Francis', '''Sons and Lovers''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Russel Metty', '''Spartacus''' '(Color)'

★ 1961 - 'Eugen Schufftan', '''The Hustler''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Daniel L. Fapp', '''West Side Story''' '(Color)'

★ 1962 - 'Jean Bourgoin', 'Walter Wottitz', '''The Longest Day''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Freddie Young', '''Lawrence of Arabia''' '(Color)'

★ 1963 - 'James Wong Howe', '''Hud''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Leon Shamroy', '''Cleopatra''' '(Color)'

★ 1964 - 'Walter Lassally', '''Zorba the Greek''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Harry Stradling', '''My Fair Lady''' '(Color)'

★ 1965 - 'Ernest Laszlo', '''Ship of Fools''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Freddie Young', '''Doctor Zhivago''' '(Color)'

★ 1966 - 'Haskell Wexler', '''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?''' '(B&W)'

★
★ - 'Ted Moore', '''A Man for All Seasons''' '(Color)'
'From 1967, there was a single award again:'

★ 1967 - 'Burnett Guffey', '''Bonnie & Clyde'''

★
★ Conrad Hall, In Cold Blood

★
★ Richard H. Kline, Camelot

★
★ Robert Surtees, Doctor Dolittle

★
★ Robert Surtees, The Graduate

★ 1968 - 'Pasqualino De Santis', '''Romeo and Juliet'''

★
★ Daniel L. Fapp, Ice Station Zebra

★
★ Ernest Laszlo, Star!

★
★ Oswald Morris, Oliver!

★
★ Harry Stradling, Funny Girl

★ 1969 - 'Conrad Hall', '''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'''

★
★ Daniel Fapp, Marooned

★
★ Arthur Ibbetson, Anne of the Thousand Days

★
★ Charles B. Lang, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

★
★ Harry Stradling, Hello, Dolly!

1970s

★ 1970 - 'Freddie Young', '''Ryan's Daughter'''

★
★ Fred Koenekamp, Patton

★
★ Ernest Laszlo, Airport

★
★ Charles F. Wheeler, Osami Furuya, Sinsaku Himeda and Masamichi Satoh, Tora! Tora! Tora!

★
★ Billy Williams, Women in Love

★ 1971 - 'Oswald Morris', '''Fiddler on the Roof'''

★
★ Owen Roizman, The French Connection

★
★ Robert Surtees, The Last Picture Show

★
★ Robert Surtees, Summer of '42

★
★ Freddie Young, Nicholas and Alexandra

★ 1972 - 'Geoffrey Unsworth', '''Cabaret'''

★
★ Charles B. Lang, Butterflies Are Free

★
★ Douglas Slocombe, Travels With My Aunt

★
★ Harold E. Stine, The Poseidon Adventure

★
★ Harry Stradling, Jr., 1776

★ 1973 - 'Sven Nykvist', '''Cries and Whispers'''

★
★ Jack Couffer, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

★
★ Owen Roizman, The Exorcist

★
★ Harry Stradling, Jr., The Way We Were

★
★ Robert Surtees, The Sting

★ 1974 - 'Fred Koenekamp' and 'Joseph Biroc', '''The Towering Inferno'''

★
★ John A. Alonzo, Chinatown

★
★ Philip Lathrop, Earthquake

★
★ Bruce Surtees, Lenny

★
★ Geoffrey Unsworth, Murder on the Orient Express

★ 1975 - 'John Alcott', '''Barry Lyndon'''

★
★ Conrad Hall, The Day of the Locust

★
★ James Wong Howe, Funny Lady

★
★ Robert Surtees, The Hindenburg

★
★ Haskell Wexler and Bill Butler, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

★ 1976 - 'Haskell Wexler', '''Bound for Glory'''

★
★ Richard H. Kline, King Kong

★
★ Ernest Laszlo, Logan's Run

★
★ Owen Roizman, Network

★
★ Robert Surtees, A Star Is Born

★ 1977 - 'Vilmos Zsigmond', '''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'''

★
★ William A. Fraker, Looking for Mr. Goodbar

★
★ Fred J. Koenekamp, Islands in the Stream

★
★ Douglas Slocombe, Julia

★
★ Robert Surtees, The Turning Point

★ 1978 - 'Nestor Almendros', '''Days of Heaven'''

★
★ William A. Fraker, Heaven Can Wait

★
★ Oswald Morris, The Wiz

★
★ Robert Surtees, Same Time, Next Year

★
★ Vilmos Zsigmond, ''The Deer Hunter''

★ 1979 - 'Vittorio Storaro', '''Apocalypse Now'''

★
★ Nestor Almendros, Kramer vs. Kramer

★
★ William A. Fraker, 1941

★
★ Frank Phillips, The Black Hole

★
★ Giuseppe Rotunno, All That Jazz

1980s

★ 1980 - 'Geoffrey Unsworth' and 'Ghislaine Cloquet', '''Tess'''

★
★ Nestor Almendros, The Blue Lagoon

★
★ Ralf D. Bode, Coal Miner's Daughter

★
★ Michael Chapman, Raging Bull

★
★ James Crabe, The Formula

★ 1981 - 'Vittorio Storaro', '''Reds'''

★
★ Miroslav Ondricek, Ragtime

★
★ Douglas Slocombe, ''Raiders of the Lost Ark

★
★ Alex Thomson, Excalibur

★
★ Billy Williams, ''On Golden Pond''

★ 1982 - 'Billy Williams' and 'Ronnie Taylor', '''Gandhi'''

★
★ Nestor Almendros, ''Sophie's Choice''

★
★ Allen Daviau, ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''

★
★ Owen Roizman, ''Tootsie''

★
★ Jost Vacano, ''Das Boot''

★ 1983 - 'Sven Nykvist', '''Fanny and Alexander'''

★
★ Caleb Deschanel, The Right Stuff

★
★ William A. Fraker, WarGames

★
★ Don Peterman, Flashdance

★
★ Gordon Willis, Zelig

★ 1984 - 'Chris Menges', '''The Killing Fields'''

★
★ Ernest Day, A Passage to India

★
★ Caleb Deschanel, The Natural

★
★ Miroslav Ondricek, Amadeus

★
★ Vilmos Zsigmond, The River

★ 1985 - 'David Watkin', '''Out of Africa'''

★
★ Allen Daviau, The Color Purple

★
★ William A. Fraker, Murphy's Romance

★
★ Takao Saito, Masaharu Ueda and Asakazu Nakai, Ran

★
★ John Seale, Witness

★ 1986 - 'Chris Menges', '''The Mission'''

★
★ Jordan Cronenweth, Peggy Sue Got Married

★
★ Don Peterman, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

★
★ Tony Pierce-Roberts, A Room with a View

★
★ Robert Richardson, Platoon

★ 1987 - 'Vittorio Storaro' , '''The Last Emperor'''

★
★ Michael Ballhaus, Broadcast News

★
★ Allen Daviau, Empire of the Sun

★
★ Philippe Rousselot, Hope and Glory

★
★ Haskell Wexler, Matewan

★ 1988 - 'Peter Biziou', '''Mississippi Burning'''

★
★ Dean Cundey, Who Framed Roger Rabbit

★
★ Conrad L. Hall, Tequila Sunrise

★
★ Sven Nykvist, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

★
★ John Seale, Rain Man

★ 1989 - 'Freddie Francis', '''Glory'''

★
★ Michael Ballhaus, The Fabulous Baker Boys

★
★ Robert Richardson, Born on the Fourth of July

★
★ Mikael Salomon, The Abyss

★
★ Haskell Wexler, Blaze

1990s

★ 1990 - 'Dean Semler', '''Dances with Wolves'''

★
★ Allen Daviau, ''Avalon''

★
★ Philippe Rousselot, ''Henry & June''

★
★ Vittorio Storaro, ''Dick Tracy''

★
★ Gordon Willis, ''The Godfather Part III''

★ 1991 - 'Robert Richardson', '''JFK'''

★
★ Adrian Biddle, ''Thelma & Louise''

★
★ Allen Daviau, ''Bugsy''

★
★ Stephen Goldblatt, ''The Prince of Tides''

★
★ Adam Greenberg, ''

★ 1992 - 'Philippe Rousselot', '''A River Runs Through It'''

★
★ Stephen H. Burum, ''Hoffa''

★
★ Robert Fraisse, ''The Lover''

★
★ Jack N. Green, ''Unforgiven''

★
★ Tony Pierce-Roberts, ''Howards End''

★ 1993 - 'Janusz Kaminski', '''Schindler's List'''

★
★ Gu Changwei, ''Farewell My Concubine''

★
★ Michael Chapman, ''The Fugitive''

★
★ Stuart Dryburgh, ''The Piano''

★
★ Conrad L. Hall, ''Searching for Bobby Fischer''

★ 1994 - 'John Toll', '''Legends of the Fall'''

★
★ Don Burgess, ''Forrest Gump''

★
★ Roger Deakins, ''The Shawshank Redemption''

★
★ Owen Roizman, ''Wyatt Earp''

★
★ Piotr Sobocinski, ''

★ 1995 - 'John Toll', '''Braveheart'''

★
★ Michael Coulter, ''Sense and Sensibility''

★
★ Stephen Goldblatt, ''Batman Forever''

★
★ Emmanuel Lubezki, ''A Little Princess''

★
★ Lü Yue, ''Shanghai Triad''

★ 1996 - 'John Seale', '''The English Patient'''

★
★ Darius Khondji, ''Evita''

★
★ Roger Deakins, ''Fargo''

★
★ Caleb Deschanel, ''Fly Away Home''

★
★ Chris Menges, ''Michael Collins''

★ 1997 - 'Russell Carpenter', '''Titanic'''

★
★ Janusz Kaminski, ''Amistad''

★
★ Roger Deakins, ''Kundun''

★
★ Dante Spinotti, ''L.A. Confidential''

★
★ Eduardo Serra, ''The Wings of the Dove''

★ 1998 - 'Janusz Kaminski', '''Saving Private Ryan'''

★
★ Conrad L. Hall, ''A Civil Action''

★
★ Remi Adefarasin, ''Elizabeth''

★
★ Richard Greatrex, ''Shakespeare in Love''

★
★ John Toll, ''The Thin Red Line''

★ 1999 - 'Conrad Hall', '''American Beauty'''

★
★ Roger Pratt, ''The End of the Affair''

★
★ Dante Spinotti, ''The Insider''

★
★ Emmanuel Lubezki, ''Sleepy Hollow''

★
★ Robert Richardson, ''Snow Falling on Cedars''

2000s

★ '2000 (73rd) - Peter Pau, ''Wo hu cang long (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)'''

★
★ John Mathieson (BSC), ''Gladiator''

★
★ Lajos Koltai, ''Malèna''

★
★ Roger Deakins, ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?''

★
★ Caleb Deschanel, ''The Patriot''

★ '2001 (74th) - Andrew Lesnie, '''

★
★ Bruno Delbonnel, ''Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (Amélie)''

★
★ Slawomir Idziak, ''Black Hawk Down''

★
★ Roger Deakins, ''The Man Who Wasn't There''

★
★ Donald M. McAlpine, ''Moulin Rouge!''

★ '2002 (75th) - Conrad Hall, ''Road to Perdition'''

★
★ Dion Beebe, ''Chicago''

★
★ Edward Lachman, ''Far from Heaven''

★
★ Michael Ballhaus, ''Gangs of New York''

★
★ Paweł Edelman, ''The Pianist''

★ '2003 (76th) - Russell Boyd, '''

★
★ Cesar Charlone, ''City of God''

★
★ John Seale, ''Cold Mountain''

★
★ Eduardo Serra, ''Girl with a Pearl Earring''

★
★ John Schwartzman, ''Seabiscuit''

★ '2004 (77th) - Robert Richardson, ''The Aviator'''

★
★ John Mathieson (BSC), ''The Phantom of the Opera

★
★ Zhao Xiaoding, ''House of Flying Daggers''

★
★ Caleb Deschanel, ''The Passion of the Christ''

★
★ Bruno Delbonnel, ''Un long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement)''

★ '2005 (78th) - Dion Beebe, ''Memoirs of a Geisha'''

★
★ Wally Pfister ''Batman Begins''

★
★ Rodrigo Prieto ''Brokeback Mountain''

★
★ Robert Elswit ''Good Night, and Good Luck''

★
★ Emmanuel Lubezki ''The New World''

★ '2006 (79th) - Guillermo Navarro, ''El laberinto del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth)'''

★
★ Vilmos Zsigmond, ''The Black Dahlia''

★
★ Emmanuel Lubezki, ''Children of Men''

★
★ Dick Pope, ''The Illusionist''

★
★ Wally Pfister ''The Prestige''