Russell Paul Carpenter,ASC (born December 9, 1950) is an Americancinematographer^[1][2] andphotographer,^[3] known for collaborating with directorsJames Cameron,Robert Luketic andMcG. He won theAcademy Award for Best Cinematography for the 1997Best Picture-winning filmTitanic.^[4][5]

Much of his work has been in blockbuster films, includingHard Target (1993),True Lies (1994),Charlie's Angels (2000) and its sequelCharlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003),Ant-Man (2015), andAvatar: The Way of Water (2022).^[6] His documentary cinematography includesGeorge Harrison: Living in the Material World, directed byMartin Scorsese. It earned six nominations at the64th Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming for the cinematography team.^[7]

In 2018, Carpenter received theAmerican Society of Cinematographers' Lifetime Achievement Award.

The grandson of a filmsound engineer, Carpenter was born inVan Nuys,California in 1950 to a family of six.^[8] After his parents divorced in 1960, he moved with his mother and three siblings toOrange County, where he took upSuper 8 films as a hobby.^[8]

After graduating fromVan Nuys High School, he enrolled atSan Diego State University to study television directing, but later changed his major to English. To pay for school, he worked at a localpublic broadcasting channel, where he learned the ropes ofdocumentary filmmaking. After graduating, he moved back to Orange County, where he shoteducational films and documentaries.^[8]

Carpenter is most widely known for his early work inhorror andgenre cinema and for his collaborations with directors James Cameron,McG, andRobert Luketic. His first major project as Director of Photography was,Lady in White. It was followed byCritters 2: The Main Course, written and directed byMick Garris. TheLos Angeles Times criticized the film but praised Carpenter's cinematography.^[9]

Carpenter had earlier worked as a Director of Photography (DP) on numerouslow-budgethorror films likeSole Survivor andCameron's Closet. In 1983, he shotThe Wizard of Speed and Time, aspecial effects-ladenexperimental film directed by animatorMike Jittlov.^[10] His first major studio film wasCritters 2: The Main Course. Two years later, he shot his firstscience fiction film,Solar Crisis, and his firstaction filmDeath Warrant starringJean-Claude Van Damme. After shooting several episodes of the television seriesThe Wonder Years, he worked onThe Lawnmower Man.

Carpenter metJames Cameron during the production of theJohn Woo-directed action filmHard Target, who hired him on the basis of his work onLady in White to shoot his 1994Arnold Schwarzenegger andJamie Lee Curtisaction comedyTrue Lies,^[8] and the 1996Universal Studios attractionT2 3-D: Battle Across Time. Their next collaboration,Titanic, carried away 11 Oscars in 1997, including Best Picture and Best Cinematography. Carpenter's work onTitanic earned him nine industry awards and a nomination for aBAFTA Award.

They worked together again onAvatar: The Way of Water andAvatar: Fire and Ash.^[11][12]

Carpenter is married to Donna Ellen Conrad and has one son, Graham (from a previous marriage), a stepson Zak Selbert, a daughter-in-law Gaudia Correia, and two granddaughters.

He is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers(ASC).

• Russell Carpenter atIMDb

• 1950 births
• American cinematographers
• American photographers
• Living people
• People from Van Nuys, Los Angeles
• Best Cinematographer Academy Award winners
• San Diego State University alumni

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