Janusz Zygmunt Kamiński (; born June 27, 1959) is a Polish cinematographer and director. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with Steven Spielberg, being his regular cinematographer since 1993.
Kamiński had won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography twice, for Spielberg's Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). In 2019, the American Society of Cinematographers included both movies on the list of the best-photographed films of the 20th century.
Early life and education Kamiński was born in Ziębice, son of Jadwiga Celner and 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 the AFI Conservatory, where he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree.
Career
Cinematographer Kamiński began his career at Roger Corman's Concorde Pictures. He worked under cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, first as a gaffer, and eventually as second unit director of photography.
Spielberg first discovered Kamiński in 1991, after seeing the television film Wildflower. Spielberg then hired Kamiński to shoot Class of '61, a television film in which Spielberg served as producer.
Kamiński 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 throughout his career, with four of these movies being directed by Spielberg.
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.
Director Aside from cinematography, 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 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
Feature film Year Title Director 1986 Lady America Nick Gaitatjis 1989 Grim Prairie Tales Wayne Coe1990 The Rain Killer Ken Stein The Terror Within II Andrew Stevens1991 Cool as Ice David Kellogg Killer Instinct David Tausik1992 Pyrates Noah Stern All the Love in the World Daniel Curran Mad Dog Coll Greydon ClarkKen Stein1993 Trouble Bound Jeffrey Reiner The Adventures of Huck Finn Stephen Sommers Schindler's List Steven Spielberg 1994 Little Giants Duwayne Dunham1995 Tall Tale Jeremiah S. Chechik How to Make an American Quilt Jocelyn Moorhouse 1996 Jerry Maguire Cameron Crowe1997 The Lost World: Jurassic ParkSteven Spielberg Amistad 1998 Saving Private Ryan 2001 A.I. Artificial Intelligence2002 Minority Report Catch Me If You Can 2004 The Terminal2005 War of the Worlds Munich2007 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Julian Schnabel 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. Brooks2011 The Adventures of TintinSteven Spielberg War Horse 2012 Lincoln 2014 The Judge David Dobkin 2015 Bridge of SpiesSteven Spielberg 2016 The BFG 2017 The Post 2018 Ready Player One 2020 The Call of the Wild Chris Sanders 2021 West Side StorySteven Spielberg 2022 The Fabelmans 2024 IF John Krasinski 2026 Disclosure Day Steven Spielberg TBA Petrichor Marco Perego
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" 2025 The Savant Matthew Heineman 6 episodes
Music videos Year Title Artist Director 2026 "Hate That I Made You Love Me" Ariana Grande Christian Breslauer
Awards and nominations
See also Cinema of Poland List of Polish Academy Award winners and nominees List of Poles
References
External links
at culture.pl