This past weekend, the American Society of Cinematographers awarded Greig Fraser for his contribution to Lion as last year’s greatest accomplishment in the field. Of course, his achievement was just a small sampling of the fantastic work from directors of photography, but it did give us a stronger hint at what may be the winner on Oscar night. Ahead of the ceremony, we have a new video compilation that honors all the past winners in the category at the Academy Awards
Created by Burger Fiction, it spans the stunning silent landmark Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans all the way up to the end of Emmanuel Lubezki‘s three-peat win for The Revenant. Aside from the advancements in color and aspect ration, it’s a thrill to see some of cinema’s most iconic shots side-by-side. However, the best way to experience the evolution of the craft is by actually watching it unfold so after the video below, there’s also a full list of winners, in case you need a to-watch list.
Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (1927/28) – Charles Rosher & Karl Struss
White Shadows In The South Seas (1928/29) – Clyde De Vinna
With Byrd At The South Pole (1929/30) – Joseph T. Rucker & Willard Van der Veer
Tabu: A Story Of The South Seas (1930/31) – Floyd Crosby
Shanghai Express (1931/32) – Lee Garmes
A Farewell To Arms (1932/33) – Charles Lang
Cleopatra (1934) – Victor Milner
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935) – Hal Mohr
Anthony Adverse (1936 B&W) – Tony Gaudio
The Garden Of Allah (1936 COLOR) – W. Howard Greene & Harold Rosson
The Good Earth (1937 B&W) – Karl Freund
A Star Is Born (1937 COLOR) – W. Howard Greene
The Great Waltz (1938 B&W) – Joseph Ruttenberg
Sweethearts (1938 COLOR) – Oliver T. Marsh & Allen Davey
Wuthering Heights (1939 B&W) – Gregg Toland
Gone With The Wind (1939 COLOR) – Ernest Haller & Ray Rennahan
Rebecca (1940 B&W) – George Barnes
The Thief Of Bagdad (1940 COLOR) – Georges Perinal
How Green Was My Valley (1941 B&W) – Arthur C. Miller
Blood And Sand (1941 COLOR) – Ernest Palmer & Ray Rennahan
Mrs. Miniver (1942 B&W) – Joseph Ruttenberg
The Black Swan (1942 COLOR) – Leon Shamroy
The Song Of Bernadette (1943 B&W) – Arthur C. Miller
Phantom Of The Opera (1943 COLOR) – Hal Mohr & W. Howard Greene
Laura (1944 B&W) – Joseph LaShelle
Wilson (1944 COLOR) – Leon Shamroy
The Picture Of Dorian Gray (1945 B&W) – Harry Stradling
Leave Her To Heaven (1945 COLOR) – Leon Shamroy
Anna And The King Of Siam (1945 B&W) – Arthur C. Miller
The Yearling (1946 COLOR) – Charles Rosher, Leonard Smith & Arthur E. Arling
Great Expectations (1947 B&W) – Guy Green
Black Narcissus (1947 COLOR) – Jack Cardiff
The Naked City (1948 B&W) – William H. Daniels
Joan Of Arc (1948 COLOR) – Joseph A. Valentine, William V. Skall & Winton Hoch
Battleground (1949 B&W) – Paul C. Vogel
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949 COLOR) – Winton Hoch
The Third Man (1950 B&W) – Robert Krasker
King Solomon’s Mines (1950 COLOR) – Robert Surtees
A Place In The Sun (1951 B&W) – William C. Mellor
An American In Paris (1951 COLOR) – Alfred Gilks & John Alton
The Bad And The Beautiful (1952 B&W) – Robert Surtees
The Quiet Man (1952 COLOR) – Winton Hoch & Archie Stout
From Here To Eternity (1953 B&W) – Burnett Guffey
Shane (1953 COLOR) – Loyal Griggs
On The Waterfront (1954 B&W) – Boris Kaufman
Three Coins In The Fountain (1954 COLOR) – Milton R. Krasner
The Rose Tattoo (1955 B&W) – James Wong Howe
To Catch A Thief (1955 COLOR) – Robert Burks
Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956 B&W) – Joseph Ruttenberg
Around The World In 80 Days (1956 COLOR) – Lionel Lindon
The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) – Jack Hildyard
The Defiant Ones (1958 B&W) – Sam Leavitt
Gigi (1958 COLOR) – Joseph Ruttenberg
The Diary Of Anne Frank (1959 B&W) – William C. Mellor
Ben-Hur (1959 COLOR) – Robert Surtees
Sons And Lovers (1960 B&W) – Freddie Francis
Spartacus (1960 COLOR) – Russel Metty
The Hustler (1961 B&W) – Eugen Schufftan
West Side Story (1961 COLOR) – Daniel L. Fapp
The Longest Day (1962 B&W) – Jean Bourgoin & Walter Wottitz
Lawrence Of Arabia (1962 COLOR) – Freddie Young
Hud (1963 B&W) – James Wong Howe
Cleopatra (1963 COLOR) – Leon Shamroy
Zorba The Greek (1964 B&W) – Walter Lassally
My Fair Lady (1964 COLOR) – Harry Stradling
Ship Of Fools (1965 B&W) – Ernest Laszlo
Doctor Zhivago (1965 COLOR) – Freddie Young
Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (1966 B&W) – Haskell Wexler
A Man For All Seasons (1966 COLOR) – Ted Moore
Bonnie And Clyde (1967) – Burnett Guffey
Romeo And Juliet (1968) – Pasqualino De Santis
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969) – Conrad L. Hall
Ryan’s Daughter (1970) – Freddie Young
Fiddler On The Roof (1971) – Oswald Morris
Cabaret (1972) – Geoffrey Unsworth
Cries And Whispers (1973) – Sven Nykvist
The Towering Inferno (1974) – Fred J. Koenekamp & Joseph F. Biroc
Barry Lyndon (1975) – John Alcott
Bound For Glory (1976) – Haskell Wexler
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977) – Vilmos Zsigmond
Days Of Heaven (1978) – Nestor Almendros
Apocalypse Now (1979) – Vittorio Storaro
Tess (1980) – Geoffrey Unsworth & Ghislain Cloquet
Reds (1981) – Vittorio Storaro
Gandhi (1982) – Billy Williams & Ronnie Taylor
Fanny And Alexander (1983) – Sven Nykvist
The Killing Fields (1984) – Chris Menges
Out Of Africa (1985) – David Watkin
The Mission (1986) – Chris Menges
The Last Emperor (1987) – Vittorio Storaro
Mississippi Burning (1988) – Peter Biziou
Glory (1989) – Freddie Francis
Dances With Wolves (1990) – Dean Semler
JFK (1991) – Robert Richardson
A River Runs Through It (1992) – Philippe Rousselot
Schindler’s List (1993) – Janusz Kaminski
Legends Of The Fall (1994) – John Toll
Braveheart (1995) – John Toll
The English Patient (1996) – John Seale
Titanic (1997) – Russell Carpenter
Saving Private Ryan (1998) – Janusz Kaminski
American Beauty (1999) – Conrad L. Hall
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) – Peter Pau
The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001) – Andrew Lesnie
Road To Perdition (2002) – Conrad L. Hall
Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World (2003) – Russell Boyd
The Aviator (2004) – Robert Richardson
Memoirs Of A Geisha (2005) – Dion Beebe
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – Guillermo Navarro
There Will Be Blood (2007) – Robert Elswit
Slumdog Millionaire (2008) – Anthony Dod Mantle
Avatar (2009) – Mauro Fiore
Inception (2010) – Wally Pfister
Hugo (2011) – Robert Richardson
Life Of Pi (2012) – Claudio Miranda
Gravity (2013) – Emmanuel Lubezki
Birdman (2014) – Emmanuel Lubezki
The Revenant (2015) – Emmanuel Lubezki
What’s your favorite Best Cinematography winner?