Rachel Morrison is a popular name in the Hollywood film industry. She is an excellent American cinematographer who is well-known for her work in widely proclaimed films like 'Black Panther' (2018) and 'Fruitvale Station' (2013). After being applauded for her amazing work on Mudbound in 2017, she successfully became the first woman ever in the last nine decades who received an Oscar nomination under the cinematography category.

Early Life

Rachel Morrison was born on 27th April, 1978 into a Jewish family in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She made the decision of becoming a photographer at a very younger age owing to her family's financial and health conditions. Her mother suffered from breast cancer and the health of her father was also deteriorating. While talking to a person from Time magazine she said, "Photography was a way for me to freeze time and to capture the moments that were happy and healthy."

In December 2011, she got married to Rachel Gaza and currently has two children from him. A boy was born to them in 2014 and she gave birth to a baby girl in 2018.

Education

Rachel Morrison completed her graduation in photojournalism from Concord Academy in 1996. Later on, she pursued a double major in film and photography from Tisch School of the Arts of New York University. She had a big confusion in her mind while deciding which subjects to choose from film and photography. By the end of her degree, she made her final decision to proceed with cinematography as a career. As a matter of fact, she pursued a master degree in cinematography from American Film Institute Conservatory in 2006.

Career

Rachel Morrison has successfully made a tremendous career in the field of cinematography in Hollywood which has won her many accolades. Her professional work is a true reflection of her hard work and dedication she has put in over all these years. She has done cinematography for television, projects films, and documentaries. She gave a kick-start to her career as a cinematographer in the television industry. She worked on television series and documentaries for various networks. She got nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on 2005 television documentary Rikers High.

In 2007, she made her debut as a main cinematographer in an Independent feature film Palo Alto. After this, she worked as a director of photography on the reality series of MTV 'The Hills'. She worked on this show for two years after which directed Zal Batmanglij's Sound of My Voice, which got premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Until 2013, she was unstoppable and worked as a photographer in good number of films like Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie (2012), Fruitvale Station (2013), both of which premiered at the 2012 and 2013 Sundance Film Festival. She received a Kodak Vision Award for her tremendous work in cinematography and her collaboration with other women filmmakers. She was a photographer for films like Cake (2014) and Dope (2015), which premiered at the 2015 and 2013 Sundance Film Festival. It was in 2014 that Rachel got an opportunity to work as a director for an episode of television series American Crime in 2015.

2017 was big year for her. Firstly, she became the member of the American Society of Cinematographers. Secondly, she became the first woman to be awarded the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematographer for her work in the film Mudbound. Thirdly, she was the first woman who got nominated for the American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement Awards for the feature category. Lastly, Rachel was the first lady to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in the last nine decades. The film Mudbound played a crucial role in her success. She successfully cashed the opportunity of working as a cinematographer for this amazing film which fetched her many awards and nominations. Apart from the above mentioned ones, she was also nominated for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Film Critics Association. She also won an award from the New York Film Critics Circle.

With the enormous success of Black Panther in 2018, Rachel is hoping for bigger budget films where she can showcase her talent of cinematography.

Final Words

In today's times, where there are only 4 percent women cinematographers working in top 250 films in 2017, she is undoubtedly an epitome of women power and strength. Even the American Society of Cinematographers admitted that no woman was included in its ranking until 1980. With her success, she hopes more women take up cinematography as a career.