Sven Vilhem Nykvist (; 3 December 1922 – 20 September 2006) was a Swedish cinematographer and filmmaker, best known for his collaboration with directors

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

and

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

. Often considered to be one of the greatest cinematographers of all time, his work is generally noted for its naturalism and simplicity. He also won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for '' Cries and Whispers'' (1972) and ''

Fanny and Alexander ''Fanny and Alexander'' () is a 1982 Historical drama, period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The plot focuses on two siblings and their large family in Uppsala, Sweden during the first decade of the twentieth century. Follow ...

'' (1982).

Early life and education

Nykvist was born in

Moheda Moheda is a locality situated in Alvesta Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden with 1,824 inhabitants in 2010. Notable natives * Sven Nykvist * Torsten Ullman *Torsten Hägerstrand *Mats Wilander (from Torpsbruk in Moheda Parish A parish is ...

, Kronobergs län,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. His parents were

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

who spent most of their lives in the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

, so Nykvist was raised by relatives in Sweden and saw his parents rarely. His father was a keen amateur photographer of African wildlife, whose activities may have sparked Nykvist's interest in the visual arts. A talented athlete in his youth, Nykvist's first cinematic effort was to film himself taking a

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

, to improve his jumping technique. After a year at the Municipal School for Photographers in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, he entered the Swedish film industry at the age of 19.

Career

In 1941, he became an assistant cameraman at Sandrews studio, working on ''The Poor Millionaire''. He moved to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1943 to work at Cinecittà Studios, returning to Sweden two years later. In 1945, aged 23, he became a full-fledged cinematographer, with his first solo credit on ''The Children from Frostmo Mountain''. He worked on many small Swedish films for the next few years, and spent some time with his parents in Africa filming wildlife, footage which was later released as a documentary entitled ''In the Footsteps of the Witch Doctor'' (also known as ''Under the Southern Cross''). Back in Sweden, he began to work with the director

on '' Sawdust and Tinsel'' (US: ''The Naked Night'', 1953). He was one of three cinematographers to work on the film, the others being Gunnar Fischer and Hilding Bladh. Nykvist would eventually become Bergman's regular cinematographer. He worked as sole cameraman on Bergman's Oscar-winning films '' The Virgin Spring'' (1959) and '' Through a Glass Darkly'' (1960). He revolutionised the way faces are shot in

close-up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, s ...

with Bergman's psychologic drama ''

Persona A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...

'' (1966). After working with other Swedish directors, including

Alf Sjöberg Sven Erik Alf Sjöberg (21 June 1903 – 17 April 1980) was a Sweden, Swedish theatre director, theatre and film director. He won the Palme d'Or, Grand Prix du Festival at the Cannes Film Festival twice: in 1946 for ''Torment (1944 film), Torment ...

on '' The Judge'' (1960) and Mai Zetterling on '' Loving Couples'' (1964), he then worked in the United States and elsewhere, on:

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's '' The Last Run'' (1971);

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's '' Black Moon'' (1975) and '' Pretty Baby'' (1978);

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's ''

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'' (1976);

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's ''

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

'' (1979); Bob Rafelson's version of '' The Postman Always Rings Twice'' (1981);

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's '' Agnes of God'' (1985);

's '' Another Woman'' (1988), '' Crimes and Misdemeanors'' (1989) and ''

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'' (1998);

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's ''

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'' (1992);

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's '' Sleepless in Seattle'' (1993); and

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's ''

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'' (1993) and '' Something to Talk About'' (1995). Nykvist won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for two of his films: '' Cries and Whispers'' (1972), and ''

'' (1982), both of which were Bergman films. Nykvist said that his favorite cinematography was ''Fanny and Alexander.'' At the 9th Guldbagge Awards in 1973 he won the Special Achievement award for his work on ''Cries and Whispers''. He was also nominated for a Cinematography Oscar for ''

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'' (1988), and in the category of Best Foreign Language Film for '' The Ox'' (1991), in which he directed

Max von Sydow Max von Sydow (; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish and French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

and

Liv Ullmann Liv Johanne Ullmann (born 16 December 1938) is a Norwegian actress and filmmaker. Recognised as one of the greatest European actresses of all time, Ullmann is known as the muse and frequent collaborator of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, whom she date ...

. Nykvist won a special prize at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

for his work on '' The Sacrifice'' (1986), the last film directed by

Andrei Tarkovsky Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (, ; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter of Russian origin. He is widely considered one of the greatest directors in cinema history. Works by Andrei Tarkovsky, His films e ...

, who by then was in exile from his native Russia. He was the first European cinematographer to join the American Society of Cinematographers, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the ASC in 1996.

Personal life and death

His ex-wife, Ulrika, died in 1982. Nykvist's career was brought to an abrupt end in 1998 when he was diagnosed with

aphasia Aphasia, also known as dysphasia, is an impairment in a person's ability to comprehend or formulate language because of dysfunction in specific brain regions. The major causes are stroke and head trauma; prevalence is hard to determine, but aph ...

; he died in 2006, aged 83. He wrote three books, including ''Curtain Call'' published in 1999. His son Carl-Gustaf Nykvist directed a 1999 documentary about him, ''Light Keeps Me Company''.

Filmography

Cinematographer

Film

Short film

Documentary short

Television

TV movies TV series

Director

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards American Society of Cinematographers BAFTA Awards British Society of Cinematographers Cannes Film Festival Independent Spirit Awards Los Angeles Film Critics Association National Society of Film Critics New York Film Critics Circle

Legacy

The Sven Nykvist Cinematography Award is awarded annually at the Gothenburg Film Festival, presented in collaboration with the Sven Nykvist Cinematography Foundation. In 2003, Nykvist was judged one of history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey conducted by the International Cinematographers Guild."Top 10 Most Influential Cinematographers Voted on by Camera Guild," October 16, 2003.
Retrieved January 28, 2011.

References

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070311125843/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=Y3AGQQGZ3G3E1QFIQMGSFF4AVCBQWIV0?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2006/09/21/db2101.xml Obituary ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', 20 September 2006
Obituary
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 21 September 2006

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nykvist, Sven 1922 births 2006 deaths Best Cinematographer Academy Award winners Best Cinematography BAFTA Award winners Best Cinematography César Award winners Independent Spirit Award winners People from Alvesta Municipality Swedish cinematographers Swedish Lutherans 20th-century Lutherans