Painting with light

Cinematographer Edward Lachman, BFA '71, takes his artistry skills to the silver screen.

By Susan Green

Cinematographers may not be household names. But we know their work. Often the "best friend" of the director, the cinematographer -- or director of photography -- is visually responsible for everything that's caught on film.

It's the visual language that tells the story, such as the difference between Edward Lachman's work on the more natural look of "Erin Brockovich" and the moody look of "Far From Heaven."

"I didn't like the isolating and solitary experience of working alone in a studio," he says. "Filmmaking is a shared experience. Collaborating with people to create images excites me, so I left painting for cinematography."

Lachman is keenly aware that as a visual culture, we've become more sophisticated and knowledgeable about creating images. Everyone may have a video camera, but films are more than talking heads.

"You have to trust images to tell the story. An image can create and relate ideas as strongly as words. You need a broad education in all of the arts since filmmaking draws on many disciplines and sensibilities."

Cinematographers light the scenes. They set up every shot in a film and control all aspects of the camera, including lenses and camera movement. Every choice they make helps to tell the story.

Lachman got his start more than 25 years ago as an apprentice with Sven Nykvist, cinematographer of most of Ingmar Bergman's best-known films of the 1960s, including "Winter Light" and "Persona." Lachman also worked with Vitorrio Storaro, who shot "Apocalypse Now," and Robbie Müller, whose credits include "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai." He went on to collaborate with German filmmakers Wim Wenders and Werner Herzog and made a name for himself in the European art film community. Italian director Vittorio De Sica was also a major influence.

For Lachman, documentary is as important as narrative film. He returned to America and began making documentaries of New York's rock and underground punk scene. In 1980 he shot "Lightning Over Water," Wim Wenders' portrait of American director Nicholas Ray's final days before Ray died from cancer. Ray is best known for his film "Rebel Without a Cause."

Although he's known for his rich visual textures, Lachman doesn't have a definitive style. And that's his strength. Lachman likes that description since it shows he tries to adapt images to the story.

"In painting there wasn't one style or one way to definitively represent something," he says. "So I felt cinematography should be that way, too."

Lachman's method of approaching each project like a painter who explores visual and cultural references makes him a favorite among directors.

His artistry is evident in films such as "Desperately Seeking Susan," "Mississippi Masala," "London Kills Me," " Light Sleeper," "The Limey," "Erin Brockovich," "The Lords of Flatbush" and "The Virgin Suicides," just a few of his more than 80 films.

"For me, filmmaking is an art form rather than as a way into a business or an industry," he says. "I think you have to love and care about the medium as an art form before you think of it as a business. If you are true to your beliefs and feelings, the other things will happen."

Susan Green is a media specialist for University Communications and Marketing.