Making waves in film and TV – celebrating Britain’s black cinematographers

During Black History Month, Bectu is championing the huge contribution black creatives make to our industries. Here cinematographer Tunji Akinsehinwa shines a light on those behind the camera.

If I mention Steve McQueen, John Akomfrah, Amma Asante or Ngozi Onwurah many of us will recognise this renowned group of film directors and even though there have been too few of them, we at least know that there has been a black presence behind the camera.

But what about those Black British filmmakers who literally are behind the camera? I’m talking about the cinematographer. That person who with camera, light and shade creates on celluloid or digitally the visual imagination of the director. We rarely talk about or acknowledge them, perhaps because they don’t quite have the glamour of the directors or actors.

When we watch the “Behind the scenes” on our DVDs, we rarely see a black person in that role. Hopefully I can redress that balance and enlighten our film audiences to the significant contribution Black cinematographers have made to British film and TV.

Far-reaching impact

Their work has been far reaching and long standing over the years. Think of TV soaps, the staple diet of our TV viewing and I’ll mention Edward Ames, who has shot 395 episodes of Doctors and 128 episodes of Emmerdale.

Think back to some of the most amazing factual TV and documentaries and I’ll reply Ian Watts, award-winning lighting-cameraman, who has filmed everyone from the Queen (How to be the Queen – 63 Years and Counting) to Usain Bolt in Olympics.

Think of children’s TV and TV dramas and I’ll reply Kelvin Richard, whose experience spans some 30 years and includes the BAFTA-nominated children’s series, Apple Tree House. I haven’t even got round to the new kids on the block – but more about them later

A struggle for inclusion

When I was growing up and had ambitions to be a cinematographer, there were very few role models for me to emulate. As a stills photographer I looked to Gordon Parks and was even fortunate enough to attend an evening event where he spoke passionately about his work and directing the original Shaft.

For the moving image it was Ernest Dickerson’s exquisite work on Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It (How I love that film!) which alerted me to the presence of the black cinematographer. Both are African-Americans and, despite that country’s history of racism, African-Americans have still had more of presence in the camera and lighting department than in the UK.

It was only Roman Osin, of German and Nigerian origin, and Remi Adefarasin, from a British and Nigerian background, who were in the cinematographers’ role when I was at university.

Roman Osin attended photography night school whilst being employed in a Rolls Royce factory in Derby and eventually worked his way to the National Film and Television School, still the premier film school in the UK, to study cinematography.

Having shot music videos and documentaries, his big break came when he teamed up with British director Asif Kapadia to shoot The Warrior (2002) for Film Four in Rajasthan. I recall the time this film was released. Osin’s cinematography was lauded and rightly so. It was a visually stunning film that received many plaudits for its visual beauty and excellent interpretation of the character and story.

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote: “There is a mighty breadth to the movie’s conception, a shimmering beauty to Roman Osin’s cinematography and the location work…”

The Warrior revealed Osin’s talent to the filmmaking world and he won multiple cinematography awards. That recognition continued with further work like Pride and Prejudice (2005), which alongside his other films earned him a well-deserved seat inside the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) in the same year.

The BSC is probably one of the most esteemed cinematography societies in the world. To date, he and Remi Adefarasin are the only non-white members, an issue which has recently been highlighted by the renewed struggle for diversity and inclusion.

The BSC and Bectu’s Camera Branch’s diversity and inclusion committees are leading the way within the industry to make the changes everyone knows needs to happen.

Today’s masters of light

But now back to the future and to the current masters of light. There are a quite a few.

Leading the pack is Stil Williams, a former luminary of the National Film School, whose superb body of work is earning him considerable attention amongst his cine contemporaries. His latest film The Last Tree (2019), directed by Shola Amoo, takes place in Nigeria and the UK.

Mark Kermode of The Guardian had this to say about Williams’ cinematography: “Watching The Last Tree for the second time, I thought I detected echoes of Chris Doyle’s shimmering work for Wong Kar-wai in director of photography Stil Williams’s terrifically expressive cinematography.”

For many in the cinematography community Chris Doyle’s work on In the Mood for Love that Mark Kermode referred to is a masterclass in cinematography. I’d give my right arm to be even mentioned in the same sentence as Chris Doyle, such is his legendary status.

Stil is up there with this magnificent work and deservedly so because like a lot of Black British cinematographers he still has to face the tedious and prolonged issue of the industry judging him on his race rather than the quality of his work and his obvious ability to do the job.

There are others who will attest to that but who have also not been swayed from their ambitions. Joel Honeywell’s work is the avant-garde of cinematography. Deemed as one of the most in-demand cinematographers in Europe, his body of work is multiplicity at its finest. It includes a documentary about Burna Boy, a music video for will.i.am, an advert for Guinness Korea and fashion films for Vogue X Gucci and loads, loads more.

So, there you have it. These are just a few of the Black British cinematographers revolutionising the way we see film and TV in the UK – and there are more, including Nathalie Pitters, Aaron Reid, Olan Collardy and Bani Mendy.

But don’t just take my word for it. Go check out their websites and see for yourself what our people are up to and then sit back, relax and rejoice in our creativity.

Tunji Akinsehinwa is a cinematographer and lecturer in cinematography at the Northern Film School and Ravensbourne University.