# Janusz Kamiński

Janusz Zygmunt Kamiński (Polish:; born June 27, 1959) is a Polish cinematographer and director.
He established a partnership with Steven Spielberg, working as a cinematographer of all of his films since 1993, winning one Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on his holocaust drama Schindler's List, and another one for the World War II epic Saving Private Ryan.
Aside from a total of seven Academy Award nominations, he has also received five nominations from the BAFTA Awards, and six from the American Society of Cinematographers.
In addition to his collaborations with Spielberg, he has also worked with Cameron Crowe, James L. Brooks, Julian Schnabel and John Krasinski.
Kamiński has also worked in the field of directing, first with the horror film Lost Souls (2000), and the NBC series The Event (2011) and WE TV series The Divide (2014).
In 2019, the American Society of Cinematographers included Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan, both shot by Kamiński, on the list of the best-photographed films of the 20th century.

## Early life and education

Kamiński was born in Ziębice, Poland, the son of mother, Jadwiga Celner, and father, Marian Kamiński.
In 1981, he emigrated to the United States at the age of 21 after Prime Minister Jaruzelski imposed martial law.
He attended Columbia College in Chicago from 1982 to 1987, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree, taking up filmmaking as a profession before attending to the AFI Conservatory, where he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree.
He would then take his first opportunity filming and helping direct the music video for Club of Rome’s smash hit ‘Why Can't I Dance With Phil Donahue’.

## Career

He worked under cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, first as a gaffer, and eventually as second unit director of photography. He shot numerous B-movies for directors Roger Corman and Katt Shea, as well as the romantic musical comedy Cool as Ice, starring Vanilla Ice.
Kamiński was first discovered by Steven Spielberg in 1991. After seeing the television film Wildflower, Spielberg hired Kamiński to shoot Class of '61, a television film in which Spielberg served as producer.
He won twice the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in the 1990s, for Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. He has been nominated five additional times for Amistad, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, War Horse, Lincoln, and West Side Story. In 2010, he was awarded the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal by the AFI Conservatory.
Kamiński became a member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) in 1994, but resigned in 2006.
In 2018 Kamiński worried that professional cinematographers were digitally losing control of their own images. In 2010 Kamiński abandoned the Chris Curling female fighter pilot World War II project The Night Witch, and in 2012 Kamiński discussed directing a Los Angeles-based version of the drama "XXXXXX" but nothing became of it.

## Personal life

Kamiński was married to actress Holly Hunter from 1995 until 2001. In 2004, he married ABC reporter Rebecca Rankin; they divorced in 2010.

## Filmography
### Director

Short film
* Making a Scene (2013)
Feature film
* Lost Souls (2000)
* Hania (2007)
* American Dream (2021)
Television
| Year | Title | Episode |
| 2011 | The Event | "Face Off" |
| 2014 | The Divide | "Never Forget" |

### Cinematographer

Short film
| Year | Title | Director |
| 1989 | Drowning | Juan Carlos Valdivia |
| 2004 | Jumbo Girl | Daniel Curran |
| 2007 | Mission Zero | Kathryn Bigelow |
| 2013 | Broken Night | Guillermo Arriaga |
Feature film
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1986 | Lady America | Nick Gaitatjis | |
| 1989 | Grim Prairie Tales | Wayne Coe | |
| 1990 | The Rain Killer | Ken Stein | |
| 1990 | The Terror Within II | Andrew Stevens | |
| 1991 | Cool as Ice | David Kellogg | |
| 1991 | Killer Instinct | David Tausik | Credited as Jennifer Stoltz |
| 1992 | Pyrates | Noah Stern | |
| 1992 | All the Love in the World | Daniel Curran | |
| 1992 | Mad Dog Coll | Greydon Clark Ken Stein | |
| 1993 | Trouble Bound | Jeffrey Reiner | |
| 1993 | The Adventures of Huck Finn | Stephen Sommers | |
| 1993 | Schindler's List | Steven Spielberg | 1st collaboration with Spielberg |
| 1994 | Little Giants | Duwayne Dunham | |
| 1995 | Tall Tale | Jeremiah S. Chechik | |
| 1995 | How to Make an American Quilt | Jocelyn Moorhouse | |
| 1996 | Jerry Maguire | Cameron Crowe | |
| 1997 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | Steven Spielberg | |
| 1997 | Amistad | Steven Spielberg | |
| 1998 | Saving Private Ryan | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2001 | A.I. Artificial Intelligence | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2002 | Minority Report | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2002 | Catch Me If You Can | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2004 | The Terminal | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2005 | War of the Worlds | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2005 | Munich | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2007 | The Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Julian Schnabel | |
| 2007 | Hania | Himself | |
| 2008 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2009 | Funny People | Judd Apatow | |
| 2010 | How Do You Know | James L. Brooks | |
| 2011 | The Adventures of Tintin | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2011 | War Horse | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2012 | Lincoln | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2014 | The Judge | David Dobkin | |
| 2015 | Bridge of Spies | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2016 | The BFG | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2017 | The Post | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2018 | Ready Player One | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2020 | The Call of the Wild | Chris Sanders | |
| 2021 | West Side Story | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2022 | The Fabelmans | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2024 | IF | John Krasinski | |
| 2026 | Untitled Steven Spielberg film | Steven Spielberg | Filming |
TV movies
| Year | Title | Director |
| 1991 | Wildflower | Diane Keaton |
| 1993 | Class of '61 | Gregory Hoblit |
| 2021 | Oslo | Bartlett Sher |
TV series
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 2006 | Wonder Pets! | Josh Selig | Episode "Save the Crane" |
| 2014 | The Divide | Tony Goldwyn | Episode "The Ways Men Divide" |
| 2024 | The Savant | Matthew Heineman | 6 episodes |