Lawrence Sher, (born February 4, 1970) is an American cinematographer and film director, best known for his works in comedy films and for his collaboration with director Todd Phillips, with his work on Joker (2019) earning him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

Early life and education Sher was born to a Jewish family and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he attended and graduated in 1988 from Teaneck High School. His father, Paul, had been a doctor at New York University Medical Center, while his mother, Joan, was a teacher and taught at the Queens-based Lexington School for the Deaf. It was on a high school-sponsored trip to Paris that Sher first developed a love for photography, after his father convinced him to take a 35mm camera along with him on the trip. Sher has maintained his connections to Teaneck, staying in the basement of his aunt's home there during the filming of Garden State, where he was able to use love of his home state to make location shots there make it appear as what The Record described as a "verdant wonderland". He expressed great pride for his hometown of Teaneck and its diversity, recalling how he "spent a lot of time with an eclectic group of people. There's nothing homogenized about Teaneck even though you're in the middle of suburban New Jersey."Longsdorf, Amy. "Cameraman always has eye on Jersey roots", The Record (Bergen County), June 1, 2009. Accessed June 2, 2009.

He attended Wesleyan University, where he had initially planned to pursue a career in medicine followed by his identical twin brother Andy, who later became a urologist. After taking a course on film history, Sher developed an immediate interest in cinema, recalling that "All I wanted to do was spend every waking moment learning about movies and cinematography." He decided on majoring in economics and graduated from Wesleyan in 1992.

Career After graduating from college, he moved to Los Angeles and immediately pursued a career in motion pictures. He started as a gaffer on a video shoot and an assistant on commercials before working his way up to cinematography. Sher's first major release was the 2001 film Kissing Jessica Stein. He achieved critical success with the 2004 movie Garden State. Duane Byrge of The Hollywood Reporter, in his review for the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, credited Sher's compositions with "pack[ing] insight into the character's psychological states".Byrge, Duane. "Garden State", The Hollywood Reporter, January 19, 2004. Accessed June 2, 2009. Sher also has worked on 2007's Dan in Real Life starring Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche and the 2009 release I Love You, Man with Paul Rudd. While Sher aspires to direct, he is in no rush given that "I don't think I’ve fulfilled all of my goals as a cinematographer yet".

As cinematographer of the 2009 film The Hangover, Sher described how a scene early in the movie shows the main characters on the roof of their hotel overlooking a stereotypical shot of the Las Vegas Strip; Sher indicated that he had tried to evoke the behind-the-scenes Vegas—after the characters wake up the following morning—by shooting a scene behind the hotels where the real action takes place. Actor Bradley Cooper credited Sher's visual style with enhancing the film's comedy, noting how Sher has "a great eye, a lot of energy and he just knows what's funny" and that "Some guys just can’t shoot comedies, but Larry knows exactly what he's doing."

With the success of Zach Braff's Kickstarter, Sher worked on Braff's 2014 feature, Wish I Was Here.

In January 2020, Sher was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on the movie Joker, but lost to Roger Deakins for 1917.

Personal life , Sher lives in Los Angeles, California, together with his partner Hema Patel and his 13-year-old son, Max, and daughter Matilda. He was previously married to Jessica Aronoff from 1998 to 2017.

Filmography Director Film Father Figures (2017)

Television Rutherford Falls (2021) (3 episodes)

Cinematographer Film Short film Year Title Director 1992 The Return of Wes Lauren Scott Wiper 1999 12 Stops on the Road to Nowhere Jay Lowi 2000 Boxing's Been Good to Me Temple Brown 2020 Nv er Theodore Melfi 2026 Flesh Impact Maggie Gyllenhaal

Feature film Year Title Director Notes 1995 Captain Jack Scott Wiper Also producer 1997 Courting Courtney Paul Tarantino With William McDonald, Tom Oetzel and Serge Rodnunsky 2000 A Better Way to Die Scott Wiper 2001 Kissing Jessica Stein Charles Herman-Wurmfeld 2002 Emmett's Mark Keith Snyder2004 Garden State Zach Braff Club Dread Jay Chandrasekhar2005 The Chumscrubber Arie Posin The Dukes of Hazzard Jay Chandrasekhar Life of the Party Barra Grant 2006 Grilled Jason Ensler2007 When a Man Falls in the Forest Ryan Eslinger Dan in Real Life Peter Hedges2008 The Promotion Steven Conrad Trucker James Mottern2009 I Love You, Man John Hamburg The HangoverTodd Phillips 1st collaboration with Phillips 2010 Due Date2011 The Hangover Part II The Big Year David Frankel Paul Greg Mottola 2012 The Dictator Larry Charles 2013 The Hangover Part III Todd Phillips 2014 Wish I Was Here Zach Braff 2016 War Dogs Todd Phillips2019 Godzilla: King of the Monsters Michael Dougherty Joker Todd Phillips Most Likely to Succeed Pamela Littky Documentary film 2021 The Starling Theodore Melfi 2022 Black Adam Jaume Collet-Serra 2024 Joker: Folie à Deux Todd Philips2026 The Bride! Maggie Gyllenhaal Apex Baltasar Kormákur

Television TV movies Year Title Director 1998 On the BorderBob Misiorowski 1999 Shark Attack 2003 Legally Blonde Charles Herman-Wurmfeld 2009 The Eastmans Jason Ensler 2017 Cheeky Plates for Target Sophia Banks

TV series Year Title Director Notes 2001 The Wonderful World of Disney Charles Herman-Wurmfeld Episode "The Facts of Life Reunion"2007 Andy Barker, P.I. Jason Ensler Episode "Pilot" Cavemen Will SpeckJosh Gordon Episodes "Pilot" and "Nick Jerk, Andy Work" 2011 Enlightened Mike White Episode "Pilot" 2021 Kanye with Special Guest DrakeFree Larry Hoover Benefit Concert Aus TaylorMichael Gaertner Concert film

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Title Result2019 Camerimage Golden FrogJoker Audience Award Academy Awards Best Cinematography BAFTA Awards Best Cinematography American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Cinematography Houston Film Critics Society Best Cinematography Satellite Awards Best Cinematography St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Best Cinematography

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