A female cinematographer winning Oscar? “I’m all for dreaming big, but I like dreaming realistic.”
A huge machine is standing there, cold and black. Snaking wires run down its body. It observes in silence with its deep pupil. People, objects, actions, lights, colours. Elements fall apart like a jigsaw puzzle. It puts the pieces together. Stunning moments and emotions are remembered within the frame. The digital eyes of film audiences. The beloved comrades of cinematographers. The cameras.
On the journey to a great movie, turning on the cameras is the crucial step. In a team of cinema world builders, the camera department is the key crew. Cinematographers or directors of photography (DP or DOP) is the person in charge of recording films, TV shows, music videos, or other live-action works. The position normally works closely with camera and lighting crews, in control of choosing the camera, film stock, lenses, filters, and other equipment as well as making all creative and technical decisions related to the images.
The main job of DPs is to help the director develop the narrative visually. Hidden behind the quiet cameras, they are integral parts of the way films are expressed. The incredible chemistry between the director and the cinematographer undoubtedly elevates the work. Without Christopher Doyle, the glamour of Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love might have been discounted. If Hoyte van Hoytema did not join Christopher Nolan, Interstellar could be a different version from what we see now.
However, when you pay close attention to the crew list, the bitter fact is that the majority of the camera department are men. A report the European Audiovisual Observatory published in 2023 pointed out that female cinematographers make up only 11 per cent of the total across active professionals in the European film industry. In addition to the small number of practitioners, women DPs are rarely represented under the mainstream spotlight. There are only three females nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in the nearly one hundred years history of Oscars.
So how about these muted females?
“I was the only woman in the camera department”
Jennifer Atcheson
Jennifer Atcheson used to spend most of her teenage years enjoying music channels and tapes. Growing up with the experimental and creative melody of the 90s, she recognised that is more or less the reason why she started her journey shooting music videos.
When Jenny worked with her undergraduate studying photography at Ulster, University in Belfast, it was still a new course without many restrictions, which provided her with a field to play around with filming.
After cooperating with several artists, a director asked her what she was planning to do after leaving university, and whether she wanted to be a DP. “‘You need to go and do something bigger.’ she said to me,” Jenny recalled. Graduating in 2010, she later applied to Northern Ireland Screen, a lottery-funded national screen agency, and worked as a trainee.
At the time she joined the cinematography department, Jenny was the only female there. There used to be another five women before her, but by the point she started her career, they all had left. According to Jenny, poor hiring experiences explained their reasons for quitting the industry. “About the way they were treated differently and given shit responsibility.” she frowned.
“I don’t like being that only woman as part of a camera team, because I think the team acts differently when it is dominated in a certain way.
“I was literally the first person this next wave of women came through. But I just wonder if I’d been a bit more quiet and a little bit smaller, would I have made it to where I am now? Probably not.” Jenny said.
Now the number of female professionals has increased to 16, she checked the contacts and cheered for the growth, “But also if you think about how many men there are, it’s still a long way to go.” She added.
After six years as an assistant, Jenny has gained experience working on more than 20 projects. Covid pushed her to an uncertain decision, but she was determined to take a leap of faith to step up from the position. “So I will try for one year to be a camera operator. And if I’m not completely financially broke by the end of it,” she said to herself. It turned out that she is coping well, and her long-term ambition for further progress is to be a director of photography.
However, the way of rising will not be easy for female cinematographers.
“They don’t give us the chance”
Nelisa Alcalde
Nelisa Alcalde recently moved to London. She is a new person in the big city, hoping for more opportunities here.
Nelisa’s dream about filmmaking started from Meshes of the Afternoon by Maya Deren while studying still photography at Napier University. “It is a nice little experimental film. And I was like, I think I could do something like this.” She still remembered the moment that seed was planted.
Nelisa crafted her skill as a director at the Edinburgh College of Art learning TV and Filmmaking and participated at international courses in Cuba and Argentina. But quickly discovered that she has no real interest in directing the actors. Meanwhile, a Brazilian woman making a short film as a camera operator she encountered in Cube inspired her, and from there her career working as a cinematographer set sail.
The beginning started with rejections. Despite her lack of experience, Nelisa applied for a TV series and she believed she was qualified. She made it to the interview stage, but in the end, a male applicant with also no experience won the position.
“I was very upset and frustrated.” She memorised. How could she ever get to work in the industry while no one is willing to offer her a job? Nelisa wondered.
The preference for men in the film industry is not anything new. Its partiality becomes particularly obvious in the camera department. Nelisa has strong feelings that what many production companies are doing is simply tick the box of gender equality. In several instances, the ratio of male to female employees is essentially the same, but a large majority of the female staff are trainees rather than taking the senior jobs. Not to mention the extremely uneven teams.
Nelisa once interviewed Rachel Morrison, the first female nominee cinematographer in the history of Oscar for her work on Mudbound. She was told that Rachel has to accomplish 11 or 12 films under a million before getting into the big production, while her male fellow graduating the same year only needs two.
One of the factors that she worries make the workplace more challenging is the prejudice that implies women are overthinking and unable to be technical.
A friend of hers has been a Steadicam Operator for one year, who needs to wear the equipment on body and balance the camera while moving. Nelisa felt angry when a male colleague complained about she being too slow stabilising the device. “Can you remember when you started, how far or how slow you were?” She questioned.
“If there is a problem with the camera. Everyone will think she’s not fixing it after five minutes. But if it is a man, they will say that there must be something very wrong with the camera.” Nelisa said, “This thought is still nowadays in the 21st century.”
Nelisa also believes that strength should not be the reason females are shut outside the door, encouraged by Rachel’s talk about how women carry around their 15-kg, seven-year-old children all day. So why not the camera?
So far Nelisa has filmed more than 10 visual works including documentaries working with BBC and built experiences assisting large-scale productions such as The Painted Bird, and A Boy Called Christmas.
“At the end of the day, we love our job so much that we will always keep fighting.” There is confidence in her voice.
Nevertheless, not everyone is lucky enough to put all their energy into their dream career.
Related: “I Don’t See Why I Can’t Win An Emmy”
“The reality is we need to pay bills”
Alexandra Hackett
Once upon a time, Alexandra Hackett did want to pursue a full-time career just in camera work.
She enjoyed the time studying for her Master’s degree in Filmmaking at Sheffield Hallam University. As a neurodivergent student with ADHD and dyspraxia, she benefited from the parameters and guidelines in school while having the freedom to explore the work. Alex got chances to build her mini crews with fellows from various national and international backgrounds.
“Everyone’s got such a different perspective of life and bringing in their own experience, which was wonderful.” She said with amazement.
Unfortunately, Alex soon realised the gap between the education environment and the actual workplace when finding her position in the market.
“The industry is really misogynistic.” Alex shared her experiences. “Even for a camera assistant, 9 times out of 10 I’ve seen them always go for the male applicants. Even if they are less qualified than me, and it’s really frustrating.”
To cover expenses Alex has found an office job in a University while doing the camera job on a freelance basis. She is currently cooperating with a dance artist on art videos and producing her own shorts when she has any inspiration.
Even under the financial limitation, Alex couldn’t simply give up her passion for cinematography. When talking about it, she quotes lines from Dead Poets Society, “But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
However, she also finds that the pressure of earning all from the creative side is not her thing after changing her office job to part-time. “It sucked all the joy out of it. I couldn’t decide when I wanted to do it. I knew it took my choice and my autonomy away.” Alex explained.
Dream and reality, the eternal debate within the silver screen and also the real world. While Alex is finding her balance with her career, she is still telling herself and other females struggling: “It’s hard not to let it get you down, but pull yourself up. Don’t let it worry you.
“There are other ways. And it’s still valid.”
