Robert Richardson (cinematographer)
Robert Bridge Richardson, is an American cinematographer. He has won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography three times, for his work on JFK, The Aviator, 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. 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.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". 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.
Richardson has four children, Kanchan, Maya, Bibi and Madeleine. His family currently runs the Cape Cod Sea Camps situated on the Cape Cod Bay.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Film | Director | Notes |
| 1981 | Reborn | Bigas Luna | |
| 1982 | An Outpost of Progress | Dorian Walker | |
| 1984 | The Front Line | Jeff B. Harmon Christopher Wenner | Documentary |
| 1986 | Salvador | Oliver Stone | 1st of 11 collaborations with Stone |
| 1986 | Platoon | Oliver Stone | |
| 1987 | Wall Street | Oliver Stone | |
| 1987 | Dudes | Penelope Spheeris | |
| 1988 | Eight Men Out | John Sayles | |
| 1988 | Talk Radio | Oliver Stone | |
| 1989 | Born on the Fourth of July | Oliver Stone | |
| 1991 | The Doors | Oliver Stone | |
| 1991 | JFK | Oliver Stone | |
| 1991 | City of Hope | John Sayles | |
| 1992 | A Few Good Men | Rob Reiner | |
| 1993 | Heaven & Earth | Oliver Stone | |
| 1994 | Natural Born Killers | Oliver Stone | |
| 1995 | Nixon | Oliver Stone | |
| 1995 | Casino | Martin Scorsese | 1st of 7 collaborations with Scorsese |
| 1997 | U Turn | Oliver Stone | |
| 1997 | Fast, Cheap and Out of Control | Errol Morris | |
| 1997 | Wag the Dog | Barry Levinson | Cameo role: Man in TV Studio |
| 1998 | The Horse Whisperer | Robert Redford | |
| 1999 | Snow Falling on Cedars | Scott Hicks | |
| 1999 | Bringing Out the Dead | Martin Scorsese | |
| 1999 | ' | Errol Morris | Documentary |
| 2002 | The Four Feathers | Shekhar Kapur | |
| 2003 | ' | Quentin Tarantino | 1st of 6 collaborations with Tarantino |
| 2004 | ' | Quentin Tarantino | |
| 2004 | The Aviator | Martin Scorsese | |
| 2006 | The Good Shepherd | Robert De Niro | |
| 2008 | Shine a Light | Martin Scorsese | Concert film |
| 2008 | Standard Operating Procedure | Errol Morris | Documentary |
| 2009 | Inglourious Basterds | Quentin Tarantino | |
| 2010 | Shutter Island | Martin Scorsese | |
| 2010 | Eat Pray Love | Ryan Murphy | |
| 2011 | ' | Martin Scorsese | Documentary |
| 2011 | Hugo | Martin Scorsese | |
| 2012 | Django Unchained | Quentin Tarantino | |
| 2013 | World War Z | Marc Forster | Uncredited |
| 2015 | The Hateful Eight | Quentin Tarantino | |
| 2016 | Live by Night | Ben Affleck | |
| 2017 | Breathe | Andy Serkis | 1st collaboration with Serkis |
| 2018 | Adrift | Baltasar Kormákur | |
| 2018 | A Private War | Matthew Heineman | |
| 2019 | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Quentin Tarantino | |
| 2021 | Andy Serkis | Post-production |