# Academy Award for Best Cinematography

The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work on one particular motion picture.

## History

In its first film season, 1927–28, 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. Still, three other films shot individually by either Rosher or Struss were also listed as part of the nomination. In the second year, 1929, there were no nominations at all, although the Academy has a list of unofficial titles that were under consideration by the Board of Judges. In the third year, 1930, 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 individuals are nominated for a single film was adopted in all profession-related categories. From 1939 to 1966 with the exception of 1957, there were also separate awards for color and black-and-white cinematography. After Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), the most recent black-and-white films to win since then are Schindler's List (1993), Roma (2018) and Mank (2020).
Floyd Crosby won the award for Tabu in 1931, which was the last silent film to win in this category. 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 1928–29) are lost, including The Devil Dancer (1927), The Magic Flame (1927), and 4 Devils (1928). The Right to Love (1930) is incomplete, and Sadie Thompson (1927) is incomplete and partially reconstructed with stills.
David Lean holds the record for the director with the most films that won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography at the Oscars with five wins out of six nominations for Great Expectations, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and Ryan's Daughter.
The first nominees shot primarily on digital video were The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire in 2009, with Slumdog Millionaire being the first winner. The following year, Avatar was the first nominee and winner to be shot entirely on digital video.
In January 2017, Bradford Young became the first African-American cinematographer to be nominated for an Academy Award, for his work on Arrival.
In 2018, Rachel Morrison became the first woman to receive a nomination. Prior to that, it had been the last non-acting Academy Award category to never nominate a woman.
In 2019, Alfonso Cuarón became the first winner of this category to have also served as director on the film, for Roma. This followed a public dispute between Cuarón and the Academy over the Academy's plan to shorten the Oscars broadcast by relegating four awards, including cinematography, to the commercial breaks in the show. Cuarón objected by saying, "In the history of cinema, masterpieces have existed without sound, without color, without a story, without actors and without music. No single film has ever existed without cinematography ..."

## Superlatives

| Category | Name | Superlative | Year | Notes |
| Most awards | Leon Shamroy | 4 awards | 1942 | Awards resulted from 18 nominations. |
| Most awards | Joseph Ruttenberg | 4 awards | 1958 | Awards resulted from 10 nominations. |
| Most nominations | Leon Shamroy | 18 nominations | 1965 | Nominations resulted in 4 awards. |
| Most nominations | Charles Lang | 18 nominations | 1972 | Nominations resulted in 1 award. |
| Most consecutive awards | Emmanuel Lubezki | 3 consecutive awards | 2013, 2014, 2015 | Awards resulted from 8 nominations. |
| Oldest winner | Conrad L. Hall | Age 76 | 2002 | Hall died just two months before the awards ceremony. Hall is also the oldest non-posthumous winner, at age 73, in 1999. |
| Oldest nominee | Asakazu Nakai | Age 84 | 1985 | Nakai shared the nomination with two others. |
| Youngest winner | Floyd Crosby | Age 31 | 1930/1931 | |
| Youngest nominee | Edward Cronjager | Age 27 | 1930/1931 | |
| Most nominations without an award | George Folsey | 13 nominations | 1963 | |
| First female nominee | Rachel Morrison | | 2017 | |
| First nominee/winner who also directed the film | Alfonso Cuarón | Cuarón served as director and director of photography for Roma | 2018 | |

## Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first in colored row, followed by the other nominees.

### 1920s

| Year | Film | Nominees |
| 1927/28(1st) | Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans | Charles Rosher Karl Struss |
| 1927/28(1st) | The Devil Dancer | George Barnes |
| 1927/28(1st) | The Magic Flame | George Barnes |
| 1927/28(1st) | Sadie Thompson | George Barnes |
| 1928/29(2nd) | White Shadows in the South Seas | Clyde De Vinna |
| 1928/29(2nd) | The Divine Lady | John F. Seitz |
| 1928/29(2nd) | 4 Devils | Ernest Palmer |
| 1928/29(2nd) | In Old Arizona | Arthur Edeson |
| 1928/29(2nd) | Our Dancing Daughters | George Barnes |
| 1928/29(2nd) | Street Angel | Ernest Palmer |

### 1930s

| Year | Film | Nominees |
| 1929/30(3rd) | With Byrd at the South Pole | Joseph T. Rucker and Willard Van der Veer |
| 1929/30(3rd) | All Quiet on the Western Front | Arthur Edeson |
| 1929/30(3rd) | Anna Christie | William H. Daniels |
| 1929/30(3rd) | Hell's Angels | Tony Gaudio and Harry Perry |
| 1929/30(3rd) | The Love Parade | Victor Milner |
| 1930/31(4th) | Tabu: A Story of the South Seas | Floyd Crosby |
| 1930/31(4th) | Cimarron | Edward Cronjager |
| 1930/31(4th) | Morocco | Lee Garmes |
| 1930/31(4th) | The Right to Love | Charles Lang |
| 1930/31(4th) | Svengali | Barney McGill |
| 1931/32(5th) | Shanghai Express | Lee Garmes |
| 1931/32(5th) | Arrowsmith | Ray June |
| 1931/32(5th) | Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | Karl Struss |
| 1932/33(6th) | A Farewell to Arms | Charles Lang |
| 1932/33(6th) | Reunion in Vienna | George Folsey |
| 1932/33(6th) | The Sign of the Cross | Karl Struss |
| 1934 (7th) | Cleopatra | Victor Milner |
| 1934 (7th) | The Affairs of Cellini | Charles Rosher |
| 1934 (7th) | Operator 13 | George Folsey |
| 1935 (8th) | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Hal Mohr |
| 1935 (8th) | Barbary Coast | Ray June |
| 1935 (8th) | The Crusades | Victor Milner |
| 1935 (8th) | Les Misérables | Gregg Toland |
| 1936 (9th) |
| Black-and-White ||
| 1936 (9th) | Anthony Adverse | Tony Gaudio |
| 1936 (9th) | The General Died at Dawn | Victor Milner |
| 1936 (9th) | The Gorgeous Hussy | George Folsey |
| Color (Special Achievement) ||
| 1936 (9th) | The Garden of Allah | W. Howard Greene and Harold Rosson |
| 1937 (10th) |
| Black-and-White ||
| 1937 (10th) | The Good Earth | Karl Freund |
| 1937 (10th) | Dead End | Gregg Toland |
| 1937 (10th) | Wings over Honolulu | Joseph Valentine |
| Color (Special Achievement) ||
| 1937 (10th) | A Star Is Born | W. Howard Greene |
| 1938 (11th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1938 (11th) | The Great Waltz | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| 1938 (11th) | Algiers | James Wong Howe |
| 1938 (11th) | Army Girl | Ernest Miller and Harry J. Wild |
| 1938 (11th) | The Buccaneer | Victor Milner |
| 1938 (11th) | Jezebel | Ernest Haller |
| 1938 (11th) | Mad About Music | Joseph Valentine |
| 1938 (11th) | Merrily We Live | Norbert Brodine |
| 1938 (11th) | Suez | J. Peverell Marley |
| 1938 (11th) | Vivacious Lady | Robert De Grasse |
| 1938 (11th) | You Can't Take It with You | Joseph Walker |
| 1938 (11th) | The Young in Heart | Leon Shamroy |
| Color (Special Achievement) ||
| 1938 (11th) | Sweethearts | Oliver T. Marsh and Allen Davey |
| 1939 (12th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1939 (12th) | Wuthering Heights | Gregg Toland |
| 1939 (12th) | Stagecoach | Bert Glennon |
| Color ||
| 1939 (12th) | Gone with the Wind | Ernest Haller and Ray Rennahan |
| 1939 (12th) | The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex | Sol Polito and W. Howard Greene |

### 1940s

| Year | Film | Nominees |
| 1940 (13th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1940 (13th) | Rebecca | George Barnes |
| 1940 (13th) | Abe Lincoln in Illinois | James Wong Howe |
| 1940 (13th) | All This, and Heaven Too | Ernest Haller |
| 1940 (13th) | Arise, My Love | Charles Lang |
| 1940 (13th) | Boom Town | Harold Rosson |
| 1940 (13th) | Foreign Correspondent | Rudolph Maté |
| 1940 (13th) | The Letter | Tony Gaudio |
| 1940 (13th) | The Long Voyage Home | Gregg Toland |
| 1940 (13th) | Spring Parade | Joseph Valentine |
| 1940 (13th) | Waterloo Bridge | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| Color ||
| 1940 (13th) | The Thief of Bagdad | Georges Périnal |
| 1940 (13th) | Bitter Sweet | Oliver T. Marsh and Allen M. Davey |
| 1940 (13th) | The Blue Bird | Arthur C. Miller and Ray Rennahan |
| 1940 (13th) | Down Argentine Way | Leon Shamroy and Ray Rennahan |
| 1940 (13th) | North West Mounted Police | Victor Milner and W. Howard Greene |
| 1940 (13th) | Northwest Passage | Sidney Wagner and William V. Skall |
| 1941 (14th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1941 (14th) | How Green Was My Valley | Arthur C. Miller |
| 1941 (14th) | The Chocolate Soldier | Karl Freund |
| 1941 (14th) | Citizen Kane | Gregg Toland |
| 1941 (14th) | Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| 1941 (14th) | Here Comes Mr. Jordan | Joseph Walker |
| 1941 (14th) | Hold Back the Dawn | Leo Tover |
| 1941 (14th) | Sergeant York | Sol Polito |
| 1941 (14th) | Sun Valley Serenade | Edward Cronjager |
| 1941 (14th) | Sundown | Charles Lang |
| 1941 (14th) | That Hamilton Woman | Rudolph Maté |
| Color ||
| 1941 (14th) | Blood and Sand | Ernest Palmer and Ray Rennahan |
| 1941 (14th) | Aloma of the South Seas | Wilfred M. Cline, Karl Struss and William E. Snyder |
| 1941 (14th) | Billy the Kid | William V. Skall and Leonard Smith |
| 1941 (14th) | Blossoms in the Dust | Karl Freund and W. Howard Greene |
| 1941 (14th) | Dive Bomber | Bert Glennon |
| 1941 (14th) | Louisiana Purchase | Harry Hallenberger and Ray Rennahan |
| 1942 (15th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1942 (15th) | Mrs. Miniver | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| 1942 (15th) | Kings Row | James Wong Howe |
| 1942 (15th) | The Magnificent Ambersons | Stanley Cortez |
| 1942 (15th) | Moontide | Charles G. Clarke |
| 1942 (15th) | The Pied Piper | Edward Cronjager |
| 1942 (15th) | The Pride of the Yankees | Rudolph Maté |
| 1942 (15th) | Take a Letter, Darling | John J. Mescall |
| 1942 (15th) | The Talk of the Town | Ted Tetzlaff |
| 1942 (15th) | Ten Gentlemen from West Point | Leon Shamroy |
| 1942 (15th) | This Above All | Arthur C. Miller |
| Color ||
| 1942 (15th) | The Black Swan | Leon Shamroy |
| 1942 (15th) | Arabian Nights | Milton Krasner, William V. Skall and W. Howard Greene |
| 1942 (15th) | Captains of the Clouds | Sol Polito |
| 1942 (15th) | Jungle Book | W. Howard Greene |
| 1942 (15th) | Reap the Wild Wind | Victor Milner and William V. Skall |
| 1942 (15th) | To the Shores of Tripoli | Edward Cronjager and William V. Skall |
| 1943 (16th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1943 (16th) | The Song of Bernadette | Arthur C. Miller |
| 1943 (16th) | Air Force | James Wong Howe, Elmer Dyer and Charles A. Marshall |
| 1943 (16th) | Casablanca | Arthur Edeson |
| 1943 (16th) | Corvette K-225 | Tony Gaudio |
| 1943 (16th) | Five Graves to Cairo | John F. Seitz |
| 1943 (16th) | The Human Comedy | Harry Stradling |
| 1943 (16th) | Madame Curie | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| 1943 (16th) | The North Star | James Wong Howe |
| 1943 (16th) | Sahara | Rudolph Maté |
| 1943 (16th) | So Proudly We Hail! | Charles Lang |
| Color ||
| 1943 (16th) | Phantom of the Opera | Hal Mohr and W. Howard Greene |
| 1943 (16th) | For Whom the Bell Tolls | Ray Rennahan |
| 1943 (16th) | Heaven Can Wait | Edward Cronjager |
| 1943 (16th) | Hello, Frisco, Hello | Charles G. Clarke and Allen M. Davey |
| 1943 (16th) | Lassie Come Home | Leonard Smith |
| 1943 (16th) | Thousands Cheer | George Folsey |
| 1944 (17th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1944 (17th) | Laura | Joseph LaShelle |
| 1944 (17th) | Double Indemnity | John F. Seitz |
| 1944 (17th) | Dragon Seed | Sidney Wagner |
| 1944 (17th) | Gaslight | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| 1944 (17th) | Going My Way | Lionel Lindon |
| 1944 (17th) | Lifeboat | Glen MacWilliams |
| 1944 (17th) | Since You Went Away | Stanley Cortez and Lee Garmes |
| 1944 (17th) | Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo | Robert Surtees and Harold Rosson |
| 1944 (17th) | The Uninvited | Charles Lang |
| 1944 (17th) | The White Cliffs of Dover | George Folsey |
| Color ||
| 1944 (17th) | Wilson | Leon Shamroy |
| 1944 (17th) | Cover Girl | Rudolph Maté and Allen M. Davey |
| 1944 (17th) | Home in Indiana | Edward Cronjager |
| 1944 (17th) | Kismet | Charles Rosher |
| 1944 (17th) | Lady in the Dark | Ray Rennahan |
| 1944 (17th) | Meet Me in St. Louis | George Folsey |
| 1945 (18th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1945 (18th) | The Picture of Dorian Gray | Harry Stradling |
| 1945 (18th) | The Keys of the Kingdom | Arthur C. Miller |
| 1945 (18th) | The Lost Weekend | John F. Seitz |
| 1945 (18th) | Mildred Pierce | Ernest Haller |
| 1945 (18th) | Spellbound | George Barnes |
| Color ||
| 1945 (18th) | Leave Her to Heaven | Leon Shamroy |
| 1945 (18th) | Anchors Aweigh | Robert H. Planck and Charles P. Boyle |
| 1945 (18th) | National Velvet | Leonard Smith |
| 1945 (18th) | A Song to Remember | Tony Gaudio and Allen M. Davey |
| 1945 (18th) | The Spanish Main | George Barnes |
| 1946 (19th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1946 (19th) | Anna and the King of Siam | Arthur C. Miller |
| 1946 (19th) | The Green Years | George Folsey |
| Color ||
| 1946 (19th) | The Yearling | Charles Rosher, Leonard Smith and Arthur Arling |
| 1946 (19th) | The Jolson Story | Joseph Walker |
| 1947 (20th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1947 (20th) | Great Expectations | Guy Green |
| 1947 (20th) | Green Dolphin Street | George Folsey |
| 1947 (20th) | The Ghost and Mrs. Muir | Charles Lang |
| Color ||
| 1947 (20th) | Black Narcissus | Jack Cardiff |
| 1947 (20th) | Life with Father | J. Peverell Marley and William V. Skall |
| 1947 (20th) | Mother Wore Tights | Harry Jackson |
| 1948 (21st) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1948 (21st) | The Naked City | William Daniels |
| 1948 (21st) | A Foreign Affair | Charles Lang |
| 1948 (21st) | I Remember Mama | Nicholas Musuraca |
| 1948 (21st) | Johnny Belinda | Ted McCord |
| 1948 (21st) | Portrait of Jennie | Joseph August (posthumously) |
| Color ||
| 1948 (21st) | Joan of Arc | Joseph Valentine, William V. Skall and Winton C. Hoch |
| 1948 (21st) | Green Grass of Wyoming | Charles G. Clarke |
| 1948 (21st) | The Loves of Carmen | William E. Snyder |
| 1948 (21st) | The Three Musketeers | Robert H. Planck |
| 1949 (22nd) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1949 (22nd) | Battleground | Paul C. Vogel |
| 1949 (22nd) | Champion | Franz Planer |
| 1949 (22nd) | Come to the Stable | Joseph LaShelle |
| 1949 (22nd) | The Heiress | Leo Tover |
| 1949 (22nd) | Prince of Foxes | Leon Shamroy |
| Color ||
| 1949 (22nd) | She Wore a Yellow Ribbon | Winton C. Hoch |
| 1949 (22nd) | The Barkleys of Broadway | Harry Stradling |
| 1949 (22nd) | Jolson Sings Again | William E. Snyder |
| 1949 (22nd) | Little Women | Robert H. Planck and Charles Schoenbaum |
| 1949 (22nd) | Sand | Charles G. Clarke |

### 1950s

| Year | Film | Nominees |
| 1950 (23rd) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1950 (23rd) | The Third Man | Robert Krasker |
| 1950 (23rd) | All About Eve | Milton Krasner |
| 1950 (23rd) | The Asphalt Jungle | Harold Rosson |
| 1950 (23rd) | The Furies | Victor Milner |
| 1950 (23rd) | Sunset Boulevard | John F. Seitz |
| Color ||
| 1950 (23rd) | King Solomon's Mines | Robert Surtees |
| 1950 (23rd) | Annie Get Your Gun | Charles Rosher |
| 1950 (23rd) | Broken Arrow | Ernest Palmer |
| 1950 (23rd) | The Flame and the Arrow | Ernest Haller |
| 1950 (23rd) | Samson and Delilah | George Barnes |
| 1951 (24th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1951 (24th) | A Place in the Sun | William C. Mellor |
| 1951 (24th) | Death of a Salesman | Franz Planer |
| 1951 (24th) | The Frogmen | Norbert Brodine |
| 1951 (24th) | Strangers on a Train | Robert Burks |
| 1951 (24th) | A Streetcar Named Desire | Harry Stradling |
| Color ||
| 1951 (24th) | An American in Paris | Alfred Gilks and John Alton |
| 1951 (24th) | David and Bathsheba | Leon Shamroy |
| 1951 (24th) | Quo Vadis | Robert Surtees and William V. Skall |
| 1951 (24th) | Show Boat | Charles Rosher |
| 1951 (24th) | When Worlds Collide | John F. Seitz and W. Howard Greene |
| 1952 (25th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1952 (25th) | The Bad and the Beautiful | Robert Surtees |
| 1952 (25th) | The Big Sky | Russell Harlan |
| 1952 (25th) | My Cousin Rachel | Joseph LaShelle |
| 1952 (25th) | Navajo | Virgil Miller |
| 1952 (25th) | Sudden Fear | Charles Lang |
| Color ||
| 1952 (25th) | The Quiet Man | Winton C. Hoch and Archie Stout |
| 1952 (25th) | Hans Christian Andersen | Harry Stradling |
| 1952 (25th) | Ivanhoe | Freddie Young |
| 1952 (25th) | Million Dollar Mermaid | George Folsey |
| 1952 (25th) | The Snows of Kilimanjaro | Leon Shamroy |
| 1953 (26th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1953 (26th) | From Here to Eternity | Burnett Guffey |
| 1953 (26th) | The Four Poster | Hal Mohr |
| 1953 (26th) | Julius Caesar | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| 1953 (26th) | Martin Luther | Joseph C. Brun |
| 1953 (26th) | Roman Holiday | Franz Planer and Henri Alekan |
| Color ||
| 1953 (26th) | Shane | Loyal Griggs |
| 1953 (26th) | All the Brothers Were Valiant | George Folsey |
| 1953 (26th) | Beneath the 12-Mile Reef | Edward Cronjager |
| 1953 (26th) | Lili | Robert H. Planck |
| 1953 (26th) | The Robe | Leon Shamroy |
| 1954 (27th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1954 (27th) | On the Waterfront | Boris Kaufman |
| 1954 (27th) | The Country Girl | John F. Warren |
| 1954 (27th) | Executive Suite | George Folsey |
| 1954 (27th) | Rogue Cop | John F. Seitz |
| 1954 (27th) | Sabrina | Charles Lang |
| Color ||
| 1954 (27th) | Three Coins in the Fountain | Milton Krasner |
| 1954 (27th) | The Egyptian | Leon Shamroy |
| 1954 (27th) | Rear Window | Robert Burks |
| 1954 (27th) | Seven Brides for Seven Brothers | George Folsey |
| 1954 (27th) | The Silver Chalice | William V. Skall |
| 1955 (28th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1955 (28th) | The Rose Tattoo | James Wong Howe |
| 1955 (28th) | Blackboard Jungle | Russell Harlan |
| 1955 (28th) | I'll Cry Tomorrow | Arthur Arling |
| 1955 (28th) | Marty | Joseph LaShelle |
| 1955 (28th) | Queen Bee | Charles Lang |
| Color ||
| 1955 (28th) | To Catch a Thief | Robert Burks |
| 1955 (28th) | Guys and Dolls | Harry Stradling |
| 1955 (28th) | Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing | Leon Shamroy |
| 1955 (28th) | A Man Called Peter | Harold Lipstein |
| 1955 (28th) | Oklahoma! | Robert Surtees |
| 1956 (29th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1956 (29th) | Somebody Up There Likes Me | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| 1956 (29th) | Baby Doll | Boris Kaufman |
| 1956 (29th) | The Bad Seed | Harold Rosson |
| 1956 (29th) | The Harder They Fall | Burnett Guffey |
| 1956 (29th) | Stagecoach to Fury | Walter Strenge |
| Color ||
| 1956 (29th) | Around the World in 80 Days | Lionel Lindon |
| 1956 (29th) | The Eddy Duchin Story | Harry Stradling |
| 1956 (29th) | The King and I | Leon Shamroy |
| 1956 (29th) | The Ten Commandments | Loyal Griggs |
| 1956 (29th) | War and Peace | Jack Cardiff |
| 1957 (30th) | The Bridge on the River Kwai | Jack Hildyard |
| 1957 (30th) | An Affair to Remember | Milton Krasner |
| 1957 (30th) | Funny Face | Ray June |
| 1957 (30th) | Peyton Place | William C. Mellor |
| 1957 (30th) | Sayonara | Ellsworth Fredricks |
| 1958 (31st) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1958 (31st) | The Defiant Ones | Sam Leavitt |
| 1958 (31st) | Desire Under the Elms | Daniel L. Fapp |
| 1958 (31st) | I Want to Live! | Lionel Lindon |
| 1958 (31st) | Separate Tables | Charles Lang |
| 1958 (31st) | The Young Lions | Joseph MacDonald |
| Color ||
| 1958 (31st) | Gigi | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| 1958 (31st) | Auntie Mame | Harry Stradling |
| 1958 (31st) | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | William Daniels |
| 1958 (31st) | The Old Man and the Sea | James Wong Howe |
| 1958 (31st) | South Pacific | Leon Shamroy |
| 1959 (32nd) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1959 (32nd) | The Diary of Anne Frank | William C. Mellor |
| 1959 (32nd) | Anatomy of a Murder | Sam Leavitt |
| 1959 (32nd) | Career | Joseph LaShelle |
| 1959 (32nd) | Some Like It Hot | Charles Lang |
| 1959 (32nd) | The Young Philadelphians | Harry Stradling |
| Color ||
| 1959 (32nd) | Ben-Hur | Robert Surtees |
| 1959 (32nd) | The Big Fisherman | Lee Garmes |
| 1959 (32nd) | The Five Pennies | Daniel L. Fapp |
| 1959 (32nd) | The Nun's Story | Franz Planer |
| 1959 (32nd) | Porgy and Bess | Leon Shamroy |

### 1960s

| Year | Film | Nominees |
| 1960 (33rd) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1960 (33rd) | Sons and Lovers | Freddie Francis |
| 1960 (33rd) | The Apartment | Joseph LaShelle |
| 1960 (33rd) | The Facts of Life | Charles Lang |
| 1960 (33rd) | Inherit the Wind | Ernest Laszlo |
| 1960 (33rd) | Psycho | John L. Russell |
| Color ||
| 1960 (33rd) | Spartacus | Russell Metty |
| 1960 (33rd) | The Alamo | William H. Clothier |
| 1960 (33rd) | BUtterfield 8 | Joseph Ruttenberg and Charles Harten |
| 1960 (33rd) | Exodus | Sam Leavitt |
| 1960 (33rd) | Pepe | Joseph MacDonald |
| 1961 (34th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1961 (34th) | The Hustler | Eugen Schüfftan |
| 1961 (34th) | The Absent-Minded Professor | Edward Colman |
| 1961 (34th) | The Children's Hour | Franz Planer |
| 1961 (34th) | Judgment at Nuremberg | Ernest Laszlo |
| 1961 (34th) | One, Two, Three | Daniel L. Fapp |
| Color ||
| 1961 (34th) | West Side Story | Daniel L. Fapp |
| 1961 (34th) | Fanny | Jack Cardiff |
| 1961 (34th) | Flower Drum Song | Russell Metty |
| 1961 (34th) | A Majority of One | Harry Stradling |
| 1961 (34th) | One-Eyed Jacks | Charles Lang |
| 1962 (35th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1962 (35th) | The Longest Day | Jean Bourgoin and Walter Wottitz |
| 1962 (35th) | Birdman of Alcatraz | Burnett Guffey |
| 1962 (35th) | To Kill a Mockingbird | Russell Harlan |
| 1962 (35th) | Two for the Seesaw | Ted D. McCord |
| 1962 (35th) | What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? | Ernest Haller |
| Color ||
| 1962 (35th) | Lawrence of Arabia | Freddie Young |
| 1962 (35th) | Gypsy | Harry Stradling |
| 1962 (35th) | Hatari! | Russell Harlan |
| 1962 (35th) | Mutiny on the Bounty | Robert Surtees |
| 1962 (35th) | The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm | Paul C. Vogel |
| 1963 (36th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1963 (36th) | Hud | James Wong Howe |
| 1963 (36th) | The Balcony | George Folsey |
| 1963 (36th) | The Caretakers | Lucien Ballard |
| 1963 (36th) | Lilies of the Field | Ernest Haller |
| 1963 (36th) | Love with the Proper Stranger | Milton Krasner |
| Color ||
| 1963 (36th) | Cleopatra | Leon Shamroy |
| 1963 (36th) | The Cardinal | Leon Shamroy |
| 1963 (36th) | How the West Was Won | William Daniels, Milton Krasner, Charles Lang and Joseph LaShelle |
| 1963 (36th) | Irma la Douce | Joseph LaShelle |
| 1963 (36th) | It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World | Ernest Laszlo |
| 1964 (37th) |
| Black-and-White ||
| 1964 (37th) | Zorba the Greek | Walter Lassally |
| 1964 (37th) | The Americanization of Emily | Philip H. Lathrop |
| 1964 (37th) | Fate Is the Hunter | Milton Krasner |
| 1964 (37th) | Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte | Joseph Biroc |
| 1964 (37th) | The Night of the Iguana | Gabriel Figueroa |
| Color ||
| 1964 (37th) | My Fair Lady | Harry Stradling |
| 1964 (37th) | Becket | Geoffrey Unsworth |
| 1964 (37th) | Cheyenne Autumn | William H. Clothier |
| 1964 (37th) | Mary Poppins | Edward Colman |
| 1964 (37th) | The Unsinkable Molly Brown | Daniel L. Fapp |
| 1965 (38th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1965 (38th) | Ship of Fools | Ernest Laszlo |
| 1965 (38th) | In Harm's Way | Loyal Griggs |
| 1965 (38th) | King Rat | Burnett Guffey |
| 1965 (38th) | Morituri | Conrad L. Hall |
| 1965 (38th) | A Patch of Blue | Robert Burks |
| Color ||
| 1965 (38th) | Doctor Zhivago | Freddie Young |
| 1965 (38th) | The Agony and the Ecstasy | Leon Shamroy |
| 1965 (38th) | The Great Race | Russell Harlan |
| 1965 (38th) | The Greatest Story Ever Told | William C. Mellor and Loyal Griggs |
| 1965 (38th) | The Sound of Music | Ted D. McCord |
| 1966 (39th) | Black-and-White | Black-and-White |
| 1966 (39th) | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Haskell Wexler |
| 1966 (39th) | The Fortune Cookie | Joseph LaShelle |
| 1966 (39th) | Georgy Girl | Kenneth Higgins |
| 1966 (39th) | Is Paris Burning? | Marcel Grignon |
| 1966 (39th) | Seconds | James Wong Howe |
| Color ||
| 1966 (39th) | A Man for All Seasons | Ted Moore |
| 1966 (39th) | Fantastic Voyage | Ernest Laszlo |
| 1966 (39th) | Hawaii | Russell Harlan |
| 1966 (39th) | The Professionals | Conrad L. Hall |
| 1966 (39th) | The Sand Pebbles | Joseph MacDonald |
| 1967 (40th) | Bonnie and Clyde | Burnett Guffey |
| 1967 (40th) | Camelot | Richard H. Kline |
| 1967 (40th) | Doctor Dolittle | Robert Surtees |
| 1967 (40th) | The Graduate | Robert Surtees |
| 1967 (40th) | In Cold Blood | Conrad L. Hall |
| 1968 (41st) | Romeo and Juliet | Pasqualino De Santis |
| 1968 (41st) | Funny Girl | Harry Stradling |
| 1968 (41st) | Ice Station Zebra | Daniel L. Fapp |
| 1968 (41st) | Oliver! | Oswald Morris |
| 1968 (41st) | Star! | Ernest Laszlo |
| 1969 (42nd) | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | Conrad L. Hall |
| 1969 (42nd) | Anne of the Thousand Days | Arthur Ibbetson |
| 1969 (42nd) | Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice | Charles Lang |
| 1969 (42nd) | Hello, Dolly! | Harry Stradling (posthumously) |
| 1969 (42nd) | Marooned | Daniel L. Fapp |

### 1970s

| Year | Film | Nominees |
| 1970 (43rd) | Ryan's Daughter | Freddie Young |
| 1970 (43rd) | Airport | Ernest Laszlo |
| 1970 (43rd) | Patton | Fred J. Koenekamp |
| 1970 (43rd) | Tora! Tora! Tora! | Osamu Furuya, Shinsaku Himeda, Masamichi Satoh and Charles F. Wheeler |
| 1970 (43rd) | Women in Love | Billy Williams |
| 1971 (44th) | Fiddler on the Roof | Oswald Morris |
| 1971 (44th) | The French Connection | Owen Roizman |
| 1971 (44th) | The Last Picture Show | Robert Surtees |
| 1971 (44th) | Nicholas and Alexandra | Freddie Young |
| 1971 (44th) | Summer of '42 | Robert Surtees |
| 1972 (45th) | Cabaret | Geoffrey Unsworth |
| 1972 (45th) | 1776 | Harry Stradling Jr. |
| 1972 (45th) | Butterflies Are Free | Charles Lang |
| 1972 (45th) | The Poseidon Adventure | Harold E. Stine |
| 1972 (45th) | Travels with My Aunt | Douglas Slocombe |
| 1973 (46th) | Cries and Whispers | Sven Nykvist |
| 1973 (46th) | The Exorcist | Owen Roizman |
| 1973 (46th) | Jonathan Livingston Seagull | Jack Couffer |
| 1973 (46th) | The Sting | Robert Surtees |
| 1973 (46th) | The Way We Were | Harry Stradling Jr. |
| 1974 (47th) | The Towering Inferno | Fred J. Koenekamp and Joseph Biroc |
| 1974 (47th) | Chinatown | John A. Alonzo |
| 1974 (47th) | Earthquake | Philip H. Lathrop |
| 1974 (47th) | Lenny | Bruce Surtees |
| 1974 (47th) | Murder on the Orient Express | Geoffrey Unsworth |
| 1975 (48th) | Barry Lyndon | John Alcott |
| 1975 (48th) | The Day of the Locust | Conrad L. Hall |
| 1975 (48th) | Funny Lady | James Wong Howe |
| 1975 (48th) | The Hindenburg | Robert Surtees |
| 1975 (48th) | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Haskell Wexler and Bill Butler |
| 1976 (49th) | Bound for Glory | Haskell Wexler |
| 1976 (49th) | King Kong | Richard H. Kline |
| 1976 (49th) | Logan's Run | Ernest Laszlo |
| 1976 (49th) | Network | Owen Roizman |
| 1976 (49th) | A Star Is Born | Robert Surtees |
| 1977 (50th) | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | Vilmos Zsigmond |
| 1977 (50th) | Islands in the Stream | Fred J. Koenekamp |
| 1977 (50th) | Julia | Douglas Slocombe |
| 1977 (50th) | Looking for Mr. Goodbar | William A. Fraker |
| 1977 (50th) | The Turning Point | Robert Surtees |
| 1978 (51st) | Days of Heaven | Néstor Almendros |
| 1978 (51st) | The Deer Hunter | Vilmos Zsigmond |
| 1978 (51st) | Heaven Can Wait | William A. Fraker |
| 1978 (51st) | Same Time, Next Year | Robert Surtees |
| 1978 (51st) | The Wiz | Oswald Morris |
| 1979 (52nd) | Apocalypse Now | Vittorio Storaro |
| 1979 (52nd) | 1941 | William A. Fraker |
| 1979 (52nd) | All That Jazz | Giuseppe Rotunno |
| 1979 (52nd) | The Black Hole | Frank V. Phillips |
| 1979 (52nd) | Kramer vs. Kramer | Néstor Almendros |

### 1980s

| Year | Film | Nominees |
| 1980 (53rd) | Tess | Geoffrey Unsworth (posthumously) and Ghislain Cloquet |
| 1980 (53rd) | The Blue Lagoon | Néstor Almendros |
| 1980 (53rd) | Coal Miner's Daughter | Ralf D. Bode |
| 1980 (53rd) | The Formula | James Crabe |
| 1980 (53rd) | Raging Bull | Michael Chapman |
| 1981 (54th) | Reds | Vittorio Storaro |
| 1981 (54th) | Excalibur | Alex Thomson |
| 1981 (54th) | On Golden Pond | Billy Williams |
| 1981 (54th) | Ragtime | Miroslav Ondříček |
| 1981 (54th) | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Douglas Slocombe |
| 1982 (55th) | Gandhi | Billy Williams and Ronnie Taylor |
| 1982 (55th) | Das Boot | Jost Vacano |
| 1982 (55th) | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Allen Daviau |
| 1982 (55th) | Sophie's Choice | Néstor Almendros |
| 1982 (55th) | Tootsie | Owen Roizman |
| 1983 (56th) | Fanny and Alexander | Sven Nykvist |
| 1983 (56th) | Flashdance | Don Peterman |
| 1983 (56th) | The Right Stuff | Caleb Deschanel |
| 1983 (56th) | WarGames | William A. Fraker |
| 1983 (56th) | Zelig | Gordon Willis |
| 1984 (57th) | The Killing Fields | Chris Menges |
| 1984 (57th) | Amadeus | Miroslav Ondříček |
| 1984 (57th) | The Natural | Caleb Deschanel |
| 1984 (57th) | A Passage to India | Ernest Day |
| 1984 (57th) | The River | Vilmos Zsigmond |
| 1985 (58th) | Out of Africa | David Watkin |
| 1985 (58th) | The Color Purple | Allen Daviau |
| 1985 (58th) | Murphy's Romance | William A. Fraker |
| 1985 (58th) | Ran | Takao Saito, Shoji Ueda, and Asakazu Nakai |
| 1985 (58th) | Witness | John Seale |
| 1986 (59th) | The Mission | Chris Menges |
| 1986 (59th) | Peggy Sue Got Married | Jordan Cronenweth |
| 1986 (59th) | Platoon | Robert Richardson |
| 1986 (59th) | A Room with a View | Tony Pierce-Roberts |
| 1986 (59th) | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home | Don Peterman |
| 1987 (60th) | The Last Emperor | Vittorio Storaro |
| 1987 (60th) | Broadcast News | Michael Ballhaus |
| 1987 (60th) | Empire of the Sun | Allen Daviau |
| 1987 (60th) | Hope and Glory | Philippe Rousselot |
| 1987 (60th) | Matewan | Haskell Wexler |
| 1988 (61st) | Mississippi Burning | Peter Biziou |
| 1988 (61st) | Rain Man | John Seale |
| 1988 (61st) | Tequila Sunrise | Conrad L. Hall |
| 1988 (61st) | The Unbearable Lightness of Being | Sven Nykvist |
| 1988 (61st) | Who Framed Roger Rabbit | Dean Cundey |
| 1989 (62nd) | Glory | Freddie Francis |
| 1989 (62nd) | The Abyss | Mikael Salomon |
| 1989 (62nd) | Blaze | Haskell Wexler |
| 1989 (62nd) | Born on the Fourth of July | Robert Richardson |
| 1989 (62nd) | The Fabulous Baker Boys | Michael Ballhaus |

### 1990s

| Year | Film | Nominees |
| 1990 (63rd) | Dances with Wolves | Dean Semler |
| 1990 (63rd) | Avalon | Allen Daviau |
| 1990 (63rd) | Dick Tracy | Vittorio Storaro |
| 1990 (63rd) | The Godfather Part III | Gordon Willis |
| 1990 (63rd) | Henry & June | Philippe Rousselot |
| 1991 (64th) | JFK | Robert Richardson |
| 1991 (64th) | Bugsy | Allen Daviau |
| 1991 (64th) | The Prince of Tides | Stephen Goldblatt |
| 1991 (64th) | Terminator 2: Judgment Day | Adam Greenberg |
| 1991 (64th) | Thelma & Louise | Adrian Biddle |
| 1992 (65th) | A River Runs Through It | Philippe Rousselot |
| 1992 (65th) | Hoffa | Stephen H. Burum |
| 1992 (65th) | Howards End | Tony Pierce-Roberts |
| 1992 (65th) | The Lover | Robert Fraisse |
| 1992 (65th) | Unforgiven | Jack N. Green |
| 1993 (66th) | Schindler's List | Janusz Kamiński |
| 1993 (66th) | Farewell My Concubine | Gu Changwei |
| 1993 (66th) | The Fugitive | Michael Chapman |
| 1993 (66th) | The Piano | Stuart Dryburgh |
| 1993 (66th) | Searching for Bobby Fischer | Conrad L. Hall |
| 1994 (67th) | Legends of the Fall | John Toll |
| 1994 (67th) | Forrest Gump | Don Burgess |
| 1994 (67th) | The Shawshank Redemption | Roger Deakins |
| 1994 (67th) | Three Colours: Red | Piotr Sobociński |
| 1994 (67th) | Wyatt Earp | Owen Roizman |
| 1995 (68th) | Braveheart | John Toll |
| 1995 (68th) | Batman Forever | Stephen Goldblatt |
| 1995 (68th) | A Little Princess | Emmanuel Lubezki |
| 1995 (68th) | Sense and Sensibility | Michael Coulter |
| 1995 (68th) | Shanghai Triad | Lü Yue |
| 1996 (69th) | The English Patient | John Seale |
| 1996 (69th) | Evita | Darius Khondji |
| 1996 (69th) | Fargo | Roger Deakins |
| 1996 (69th) | Fly Away Home | Caleb Deschanel |
| 1996 (69th) | Michael Collins | Chris Menges |
| 1997 (70th) | Titanic | Russell Carpenter |
| 1997 (70th) | Amistad | Janusz Kamiński |
| 1997 (70th) | Kundun | Roger Deakins |
| 1997 (70th) | L.A. Confidential | Dante Spinotti |
| 1997 (70th) | The Wings of the Dove | Eduardo Serra |
| 1998 (71st) | Saving Private Ryan | Janusz Kamiński |
| 1998 (71st) | A Civil Action | Conrad L. Hall |
| 1998 (71st) | Elizabeth | Remi Adefarasin |
| 1998 (71st) | Shakespeare in Love | Richard Greatrex |
| 1998 (71st) | The Thin Red Line | John Toll |
| 1999 (72nd) | American Beauty | Conrad L. Hall |
| 1999 (72nd) | The End of the Affair | Roger Pratt |
| 1999 (72nd) | The Insider | Dante Spinotti |
| 1999 (72nd) | Sleepy Hollow | Emmanuel Lubezki |
| 1999 (72nd) | Snow Falling on Cedars | Robert Richardson |

### 2000s

| Year | Film | Nominees |
| 2000 (73rd) | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | Peter Pau |
| 2000 (73rd) | Gladiator | John Mathieson |
| 2000 (73rd) | Malèna | Lajos Koltai |
| 2000 (73rd) | O Brother, Where Art Thou? | Roger Deakins |
| 2000 (73rd) | The Patriot | Caleb Deschanel |
| 2001 (74th) | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Andrew Lesnie |
| 2001 (74th) | Amélie | Bruno Delbonnel |
| 2001 (74th) | Black Hawk Down | Sławomir Idziak |
| 2001 (74th) | The Man Who Wasn't There | Roger Deakins |
| 2001 (74th) | Moulin Rouge! | Donald McAlpine |
| 2002 (75th) | Road to Perdition | Conrad L. Hall (posthumously) |
| 2002 (75th) | Chicago | Dion Beebe |
| 2002 (75th) | Far from Heaven | Edward Lachman |
| 2002 (75th) | Gangs of New York | Michael Ballhaus |
| 2002 (75th) | The Pianist | Paweł Edelman |
| 2003 (76th) | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | Russell Boyd |
| 2003 (76th) | City of God | César Charlone |
| 2003 (76th) | Cold Mountain | John Seale |
| 2003 (76th) | Girl with a Pearl Earring | Eduardo Serra |
| 2003 (76th) | Seabiscuit | John Schwartzman |
| 2004 (77th) | The Aviator | Robert Richardson |
| 2004 (77th) | House of Flying Daggers | Zhao Xiaoding |
| 2004 (77th) | The Passion of the Christ | Caleb Deschanel |
| 2004 (77th) | The Phantom of the Opera | John Mathieson |
| 2004 (77th) | A Very Long Engagement | Bruno Delbonnel |
| 2005 (78th) | Memoirs of a Geisha | Dion Beebe |
| 2005 (78th) | Batman Begins | Wally Pfister |
| 2005 (78th) | Brokeback Mountain | Rodrigo Prieto |
| 2005 (78th) | Good Night, and Good Luck | Robert Elswit |
| 2005 (78th) | The New World | Emmanuel Lubezki |
| 2006 (79th) | Pan's Labyrinth | Guillermo Navarro |
| 2006 (79th) | The Black Dahlia | Vilmos Zsigmond |
| 2006 (79th) | Children of Men | Emmanuel Lubezki |
| 2006 (79th) | The Illusionist | Dick Pope |
| 2006 (79th) | The Prestige | Wally Pfister |
| 2007 (80th) | There Will Be Blood | Robert Elswit |
| 2007 (80th) | The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford | Roger Deakins |
| 2007 (80th) | Atonement | Seamus McGarvey |
| 2007 (80th) | The Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Janusz Kamiński |
| 2007 (80th) | No Country for Old Men | Roger Deakins |
| 2008 (81st) | Slumdog Millionaire | Anthony Dod Mantle |
| 2008 (81st) | Changeling | Tom Stern |
| 2008 (81st) | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Claudio Miranda |
| 2008 (81st) | The Dark Knight | Wally Pfister |
| 2008 (81st) | The Reader | Roger Deakins and Chris Menges |
| 2009 (82nd) | Avatar | Mauro Fiore |
| 2009 (82nd) | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Bruno Delbonnel |
| 2009 (82nd) | The Hurt Locker | Barry Ackroyd |
| 2009 (82nd) | Inglourious Basterds | Robert Richardson |
| 2009 (82nd) | The White Ribbon | Christian Berger |

### 2010s

| Year | Film | Nominees |
| 2010 (83rd) | Inception | Wally Pfister |
| 2010 (83rd) | Black Swan | Matthew Libatique |
| 2010 (83rd) | The King's Speech | Danny Cohen |
| 2010 (83rd) | The Social Network | Jeff Cronenweth |
| 2010 (83rd) | True Grit | Roger Deakins |
| 2011 (84th) | Hugo | Robert Richardson |
| 2011 (84th) | The Artist | Guillaume Schiffman |
| 2011 (84th) | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Jeff Cronenweth |
| 2011 (84th) | The Tree of Life | Emmanuel Lubezki |
| 2011 (84th) | War Horse | Janusz Kamiński |
| 2012 (85th) | Life of Pi | Claudio Miranda |
| 2012 (85th) | Anna Karenina | Seamus McGarvey |
| 2012 (85th) | Django Unchained | Robert Richardson |
| 2012 (85th) | Lincoln | Janusz Kamiński |
| 2012 (85th) | Skyfall | Roger Deakins |
| 2013 (86th) | Gravity | Emmanuel Lubezki |
| 2013 (86th) | The Grandmaster | Philippe Le Sourd |
| 2013 (86th) | Inside Llewyn Davis | Bruno Delbonnel |
| 2013 (86th) | Nebraska | Phedon Papamichael |
| 2013 (86th) | Prisoners | Roger Deakins |
| 2014 (87th) | Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) | Emmanuel Lubezki |
| 2014 (87th) | The Grand Budapest Hotel | Robert Yeoman |
| 2014 (87th) | Ida | Łukasz Żal and Ryszard Lenczewski |
| 2014 (87th) | Mr. Turner | Dick Pope |
| 2014 (87th) | Unbroken | Roger Deakins |
| 2015 (88th) | The Revenant | Emmanuel Lubezki |
| 2015 (88th) | Carol | Edward Lachman |
| 2015 (88th) | The Hateful Eight | Robert Richardson |
| 2015 (88th) | Mad Max: Fury Road | John Seale |
| 2015 (88th) | Sicario | Roger Deakins |
| 2016 (89th) | La La Land | Linus Sandgren |
| 2016 (89th) | Arrival | Bradford Young |
| 2016 (89th) | Lion | Greig Fraser |
| 2016 (89th) | Moonlight | James Laxton |
| 2016 (89th) | Silence | Rodrigo Prieto |
| 2017 (90th) | Blade Runner 2049 | Roger Deakins |
| 2017 (90th) | Darkest Hour | Bruno Delbonnel |
| 2017 (90th) | Dunkirk | Hoyte van Hoytema |
| 2017 (90th) | Mudbound | Rachel Morrison |
| 2017 (90th) | The Shape of Water | Dan Laustsen |
| 2018 (91st) | Roma | Alfonso Cuarón |
| 2018 (91st) | Cold War | Łukasz Żal |
| 2018 (91st) | The Favourite | Robbie Ryan |
| 2018 (91st) | Never Look Away | Caleb Deschanel |
| 2018 (91st) | A Star Is Born | Matthew Libatique |
| 2019 (92nd) | 1917 | Roger Deakins |
| 2019 (92nd) | The Irishman | Rodrigo Prieto |
| 2019 (92nd) | Joker | Lawrence Sher |
| 2019 (92nd) | The Lighthouse | Jarin Blaschke |
| 2019 (92nd) | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Robert Richardson |

### 2020s

| Year | Film | Nominees |
| 2020/21 (93rd) | Mank | Erik Messerschmidt |
| 2020/21 (93rd) | Judas and the Black Messiah | Sean Bobbitt |
| 2020/21 (93rd) | News of the World | Dariusz Wolski |
| 2020/21 (93rd) | Nomadland | Joshua James Richards |
| 2020/21 (93rd) | The Trial of the Chicago 7 | Phedon Papamichael |
| 2021 (94th) | Dune | Greig Fraser |
| 2021 (94th) | Nightmare Alley | Dan Laustsen |
| 2021 (94th) | The Power of the Dog | Ari Wegner |
| 2021 (94th) | The Tragedy of Macbeth | Bruno Delbonnel |
| 2021 (94th) | West Side Story | Janusz Kamiński |
| 2022 (95th) | All Quiet on the Western Front | James Friend |
| 2022 (95th) | Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths | Darius Khondji |
| 2022 (95th) | Elvis | Mandy Walker |
| 2022 (95th) | Empire of Light | Roger Deakins |
| 2022 (95th) | Tár | Florian Hoffmeister |
| 2023 (96th) | Oppenheimer | Hoyte van Hoytema |
| 2023 (96th) | El Conde | Edward Lachman |
| 2023 (96th) | Killers of the Flower Moon | Rodrigo Prieto |
| 2023 (96th) | Maestro | Matthew Libatique |
| 2023 (96th) | Poor Things | Robbie Ryan |
| 2024 (97th) | The Brutalist | Lol Crawley |
| 2024 (97th) | Dune: Part Two | Greig Fraser |
| 2024 (97th) | Emilia Pérez | Paul Guilhaume |
| 2024 (97th) | Maria | Edward Lachman |
| 2024 (97th) | Nosferatu | Jarin Blaschke |

## Shortlisted finalists

Finalists for Best Cinematography were selected by branch members, who voted for ten finalists which were screened to determine the five nominees.
| Year | Finalists |
| 1967 | Barefoot in the Park, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, The Taming of the Shrew, Thoroughly Modern Millie |
| 1968 | The Boston Strangler, The Lion in Winter, Planet of the Apes, The Stalking Moon, 2001: A Space Odyssey |
| 1969 | Gaily, Gaily, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Paint Your Wagon, True Grit, The Wild Bunch |
| 1970 | The Great White Hope, The Hawaiians, M*A*S*H, The Molly Maguires, Scrooge |
| 1971 | The African Elephant, The Andromeda Strain, The Conformist, Mary, Queen of Scots, McCabe & Mrs. Miller |
| 1972 | Avanti!, The Culpepper Cattle Co., Deliverance, Glass Houses, The Godfather |
| 1973 | American Graffiti, Cinderella Liberty, Jesus Christ Superstar, Lost Horizon, Siddhartha |
| 1974 | The Godfather Part II, Harry and Tonto, The Island at the Top of the World, The Tamarind Seed, The Three Musketeers |
| 1975 | Dog Day Afternoon, Farewell, My Lovely, Ride a Wild Pony, The Sunshine Boys, Three Days of the Condor |
| 1976 | Birch Interval, Family Plot, Fellini's Casanova, The Incredible Sarah, Marathon Man |
| 1977 | Exorcist II: The Heretic, The Goodbye Girl, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, 1900, Star Wars |
| 1978 | Death on the Nile, The Duellists, Grease, Revenge of the Pink Panther, Who'll Stop the Rain |
| 1979 | The Electric Horseman, Escape from Alcatraz, The Rose, The Runner Stumbles, 10 |

## Multiple awards and nominations

| Awards | Nominations | Recipient |
| 4 | 18 | Leon Shamroy |
| 4 | 10 | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| 3 | 15 | Robert Surtees |
| 3 | 10 | Conrad L. Hall |
| 3 | 10 | Robert Richardson |
| 3 | 8 | Emmanuel Lubezki |
| 3 | 7 | Arthur C. Miller |
| 3 | 5 | Freddie Young |
| 3 | 4 | Vittorio Storaro |
| 3 | 3 | Winton C. Hoch |
| 2 | 16 | Roger Deakins |
| 2 | 14 | Harry Stradling |
| 2 | 10 | James Wong Howe |
| 2 | 8 | Ray Rennahan |
| 2 | 7 | Janusz Kamiński |
| 2 | 6 | Charles Rosher |
| 2 | 5 | Burnett Guffey |
| 2 | 5 | Haskell Wexler |
| 2 | 4 | William C. Mellor |
| 2 | 4 | Chris Menges |
| 2 | 4 | Geoffrey Unsworth |
| 2 | 3 | Hal Mohr |
| 2 | 3 | Sven Nykvist |
| 2 | 3 | John Toll |
| 2 | 2 | Freddie Francis |
| Awards | Nominations | Recipient |
| 1 | 18 | Charles Lang |
| 1 | 10 | William V. Skall |
| 1 | 9 | W. Howard Greene |
| 1 | 9 | Victor Milner |
| 1 | 8 | George Barnes |
| 1 | 8 | Joseph LaShelle |
| 1 | 8 | Ernest Laszlo |
| 1 | 7 | Daniel L. Fapp |
| 1 | 7 | Tony Gaudio |
| 1 | 7 | Ernest Haller |
| 1 | 7 | Milton Krasner |
| 1 | 6 | Harold Rosson |
| 1 | 6 | Gregg Toland |
| 1 | 5 | John Seale |
| 1 | 5 | Joseph Valentine |
| 1 | 4 | Néstor Almendros |
| 1 | 4 | Robert Burks |
| 1 | 4 | William Daniels |
| 1 | 4 | Allen M. Davey |
| 1 | 4 | Lee Garmes |
| 1 | 4 | Loyal Griggs |
| 1 | 4 | Ernest Palmer |
| 1 | 4 | Wally Pfister |
| 1 | 4 | Leonard Smith |
| 1 | 4 | Karl Struss |
| 1 | 4 | Vilmos Zsigmond |
| 1 | 3 | Jack Cardiff |
| 1 | 3 | Greig Fraser |
| 1 | 3 | Karl Freund |
| 1 | 3 | Fred J. Koenekamp |
| 1 | 3 | Sam Leavitt |
| 1 | 3 | Lionel Lindon |
| 1 | 3 | Oswald Morris |
| 1 | 3 | Philippe Rousselot |
| 1 | 3 | Billy Williams |
| 1 | 2 | Arthur Arling |
| 1 | 2 | Dion Beebe |
| 1 | 2 | Joseph Biroc |
| 1 | 2 | Robert Elswit |
| 1 | 2 | Boris Kaufman |
| 1 | 2 | Oliver T. Marsh |
| 1 | 2 | Russell Metty |
| 1 | 2 | Claudio Miranda |
| 1 | 2 | Georges Périnal |
| 1 | 2 | Hoyte van Hoytema |
| 1 | 2 | Paul C. Vogel |
| 1 | 1 | John Alcott |
| 1 | 1 | Russell Carpenter |
| 1 | 1 | Lol Crawley |
| 1 | 1 | Alfonso Cuarón |
| 1 | 1 | Anthony Dod Mantle |
| 1 | 1 | Andrew Lesnie |
| 1 | 1 | Erik Messerschmidt |
| 1 | 1 | Guillermo Navarro |
| 1 | 1 | Linus Sandgren |
| Awards | Nominations | Recipient |
| 0 | 13 | George Folsey |
| 0 | 7 | Edward Cronjager |
| 0 | 7 | John F. Seitz |
| 0 | 6 | Caleb Deschanel |
| 0 | 6 | Bruno Delbonnel |
| 0 | 6 | Russell Harlan |
| 0 | 5 | Allen Daviau |
| 0 | 5 | Rudolph Maté |
| 0 | 5 | Franz Planer |
| 0 | 5 | Owen Roizman |
| 0 | 4 | Charles G. Clarke |
| 0 | 4 | William A. Fraker |
| 0 | 4 | Edward Lachman |
| 0 | 4 | Robert H. Planck |
| 0 | 4 | Rodrigo Prieto |
| 0 | 4 | Joseph Walker |
| 0 | 3 | Michael Ballhaus |
| 0 | 3 | Norbert Brodine |
| 0 | 3 | Arthur Edeson |
| 0 | 3 | Bert Glennon |
| 0 | 3 | Ray June |
| 0 | 3 | Matthew Libatique |
| 0 | 3 | Joseph MacDonald |
| 0 | 3 | Ted D. McCord |
| 0 | 3 | Sol Polito |
| 0 | 3 | Douglas Slocombe |
| 0 | 3 | William E. Snyder |
| 0 | 2 | Joseph August |
| 0 | 2 | Jarin Blaschke |
| 0 | 2 | Michael Chapman |
| 0 | 2 | William H. Clothier |
| 0 | 2 | Edward Colman |
| 0 | 2 | Stanley Cortez |
| 0 | 2 | Jeff Cronenweth |
| 0 | 2 | Stephen Goldblatt |
| 0 | 2 | Darius Khondji |
| 0 | 2 | Richard H. Kline |
| 0 | 2 | Philip H. Lathrop |
| 0 | 2 | Dan Laustsen |
| 0 | 2 | John Mathieson |
| 0 | 2 | Seamus McGarvey |
| 0 | 2 | Miroslav Ondříček |
| 0 | 2 | Phedon Papamichael |
| 0 | 2 | J. Peverell Marley |
| 0 | 2 | Don Peterman |
| 0 | 2 | Tony Pierce |
| 0 | 2 | Dick Pope |
| 0 | 2 | Robbie Ryan |
| 0 | 2 | Eduardo Serra |
| 0 | 2 | Dante Spinotti |
| 0 | 2 | Harry Stradling Jr. |
| 0 | 2 | Leo Tover |
| 0 | 2 | Sidney Wagner |
| 0 | 2 | Gordon Willis |
| 0 | 2 | Łukasz Żal |