Robert Richardson (cinematographer)

Robert Richardson
Richardson in 2019
Born	Robert Bridge Richardson (1955-08-27) August 27, 1955 (age 66) Hyannis, Massachusetts, United States
Nationality	American
Education	AFI Conservatory
Occupation	Cinematographer
Years active	1982—present
Title	ASC
Spouse(s)	Monona Wali Katrin Haberstock Stephanie Martin
Children	Kanchan Wali-Richardson Maya Wali Richardson Bibi Haberstock Richardson Madeleine Martin Richardson
Awards	Academy Award for Best Cinematography JFK, 1991 The Aviator, 2004 Hugo, 2011

Robert Bridge Richardson, ASC (born August 27, 1955) is an American cinematographer.^[1] He has won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography three times, for his work on JFK, The Aviator,^[2] and Hugo. Richardson is and has been a frequent collaborator for several directors, including Oliver Stone, John Sayles, Errol Morris, Quentin Tarantino, and Martin Scorsese. He is one of three living persons who has won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography three times, the others being Vittorio Storaro and Emmanuel Lubezki.

Life and career[]

Richardson was born in Hyannis, Massachusetts. He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Film/Animation/Video and received his MFA from AFI Conservatory. Richardson's work began as a camera operator and 2nd unit photographer on such features as Alex Cox's Repo Man, Dorian Walker's Making the Grade and Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (all in 1984). At the same time he also served as cinematographer on TV documentaries and docudramas such as America, America for The Disney Channel, God's Peace for the BBC and PBS' The Front Line: El Salvador. His television work and documentary style filmmaking led to his meeting Oliver Stone, who hired him to "shoot" Salvador (1986).

Oliver Stone's major motion picture debut was also Richardson's first film as director of photography. Salvador was also filmed the same year as Stone's Platoon. Platoon would earn Richardson his first Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography. In 1987, Richardson reteamed with Stone on Wall Street. In 1988, he filmed Eight Men Out for John Sayles. In 1989, he earned his second Best Cinematography Oscar nomination for Stone's Born on the Fourth of July.

In 1991, Richardson won the first of his Best Cinematography Academy Awards for his work on Stone's JFK; he also shot Stone's The Doors that same year. He worked with Sayles again in 1991 for City of Hope. In 1992, he worked as director of photography on Rob Reiner's A Few Good Men and served as a 2nd unit photographer for Haskell Wexler on To the Moon, Alice, a "Showtime 30-Minute Movie" (for which he was also credited as visual consultant). He began a long working relationship with Martin Scorsese in 1995, with Casino. Also in 1995, he was cinematographer on Stone's Nixon. In 1997, Richardson photographed Errol Morris's documentary Fast, Cheap and Out of Control as well as filming the majority of Stone's U Turn and serving as director of photography for Barry Levinson's Wag the Dog.

Richardson worked on the 2013 zombie film World War Z, but asked for his name to be taken off the final product. The credited cinematographer is Ben Seresin.^[3]

Richardson has four children, Kanchan, Maya, Bibi and Madeleine. His family currently runs the Cape Cod Sea Camps situated on the Cape Cod Bay.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography[]

Film[]

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Documentary films