Ken Kelsch
Born	Kenneth Arthur Kelsch (1947-07-08)July 8, 1947 New York City,New York,United States
Died	December 11, 2023(2023-12-11) (aged 76) Hackettstown, New Jersey,United States
Alma mater	Montclair State College New York University
Occupation	Cinematographer
Years active	1972–2019
Organization	American Society of Cinematographers
Children	3
Military career
Service/ branch	United States Army
Unit	United States Army Special Forces
Battles / wars	Vietnam War

Kenneth Arthur Kelsch (July 8, 1947 – December 11, 2023)^[1] was an American cinematographer, teacher, and Vietnam veteran. He was best known for hisguerilla filmmaking style and his career-spanning partnership with filmmakerAbel Ferrara, with whom he made more than a dozen films, includingThe Driller Killer (1979),Bad Lieutenant (1992),Dangerous Game (1993),The Addiction (1995),The Blackout (1997), andWelcome to New York (2014), as well as a segment of theHBO dark comedy drama anthology seriesSubway Stories (1997).

On television, Kelsch was the director of photography for the pilot episode of theCBS crime drama seriesHack (2002) and thefirst andsecond seasons of theNBC supernatural procedural drama seriesMedium (2005–06). He was nominated for theIndependent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography for his work onThe Funeral (1996).

Kenneth Arthur Kelsch was born inBrooklyn on July 8, 1947, and grew up inEast Newark andNorth Arlington, New Jersey.^[2] His mother was born in Scotland and his father was born in theAlsace region of France.^[3] He was raisedCatholic. He took an early interest in photography: he had his owndarkroom at 12 years old and his father showed him how to developblack and white photographs. While still in high school, his father died while Kelsch had been attending his first week ofseminary and his mother was two weeks pregnant.^[4]

He studied photography atMontclair State College and New York University's Film & Television program.^[5]

Kelsch attendedRutgers University for a year and enlisted in the army in 1966. As aGreen Beret, he was the executive officer of anA-team during theVietnam War and participated in SLAM (Search, Locate, Annihilate, and Monitor) operations inLaos^[3] andCIA led cross-border operations inCambodia.^[5][6]

Upon returning to the States, Kelsch attendedMontclair State University and worked forJohnson & Johnson makinggaffer tape. He attended film school atNew York University'sTisch School of the Arts, graduating with an M.F.A. in 1977.^[7][2] His cinematography professor was Czech filmmakerBeda Batka.

Actors he filmed includeDanny Aiello,Asia Argento,Patricia Arquette,Seymour Cassel,John Corbett,Gérard Depardieu,Willem Dafoe,Benicio Del Toro,Drea de Matteo,Gérard Depardieu,Minnie Driver,Edie Falco,Danny Glover,Isaac Hayes,Philip Seymour Hoffman,Michael Imperioli,Samuel L. Jackson,Allison Janney,Harvey Keitel,Madonna,Vincent Pastore,Chris Penn,Ron Perlman,Christopher Reeve,John Ritter,Isabella Rosellini,Annabella Sciorra,Kyra Sedgwick,Paul Sorvino,David Strathairn,Lili Taylor,Stanley Tucci,Christopher Walken,Sam Waterston andJames Woods among others.

Between 1979 and 2019, Kelsch made thirteen films with directorAbel Ferrara, including his first filmThe Driller Killer, and the critically acclaimed feature filmsBad Lieutenant (1992) andThe Funeral (1996), for which he was nominated for anIndependent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography.^[8]

Kelsch taught cinematography atMontclair State University,Hofstra andFive Towns College in Long Island.^[9]

Kelsch had four children, one of whom died before him.^[2] His second wife was his assistant at NYU. On December 11, 2023, he died ofCOVID-19 and pneumonia at a hospital inHackettstown, New Jersey, at the age of 76.^[3][9]

Music videos

• List of film director and cinematographer collaborations

• Ken Kelsch atIMDb 
• Official YouTube

• 1947 births
• 2023 deaths
• American cinematographers
• American people of French descent
• American people of Scottish descent
• Deaths from pneumonia in New Jersey
• Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey
• Members of the United States Army Special Forces
• People from Brooklyn
• People from East Newark, New Jersey
• People from Hackettstown, New Jersey
• United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War
• People from North Arlington, New Jersey
• Tisch School of the Arts alumni

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Pages using infobox military person with embed
• Articles with hCards