Rachel Morrison

Cinematographers don't often become household names, but Rachel Morrison was a high-profile exception. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1978, Morrison first picked up her mother's vintage Olympus camera when she was still a small child and spent her youth snapping pictures. By the time she was enrolling at New York University, Morrison was unable to choose between film and still photography, so she double majored in both. She would go on to earn her master's degree in cinematography from AFI Conservatory in 2006. She entered the ranks of professional cinematographers with a job shooting on the reality series "The Hills" (MTV, 2006-2010). It was far from the substantial and artistically minded films Morrison had in mind, but the experience did teach her how to light for multiple cameras at once-a very useful skill in the realm of independent film. She would go on to shoot Zal Batmanglij's independent science fiction film "Sound of My Voice" (2011) and Ryan Coogler's "Fruitvale Station" (2013). Coogler offered her the director of photography position on "Creed' (2015), but Morrison was forced to turn the job down as she was pregnant at the time, and due to give birth in the middle of filming. She went on to shoot the Jennifer Aniston drama "Cake" (2014), the acclaimed "Dope" (2015), and the period drama "Mudbound" (2017) before reteaming with Coogler for what would prove a first for both of them: the Marvel blockbuster "Black Panther" (2018). Though neither had made such a high budget movie before, the pair brought their independent sensibilities to the project with great results, as the movie proved one of the highest grossing films of the decade. Fresh off of the film's success, Morrison signed on to shoot the period biopic "Against All Enemies" (2019).