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Henri Alekan

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Portrait of Henri Alekan

Henri Alekan(10 February 1909,Paris– 15 June 2001,Auxerre,Bourgogne) was a Frenchcinematographer.

Life[edit]

Alekan was born inMontmartrein 1909. At the age of sixteen he and his brother became travelling puppeteers. A little later he started work as third assistant cameraman at theBillancourt Studios.He then spent a short time in the army, returning to Billancourt in 1931.

In the late 1930s he was the camera operator toEugene ShufftanonMarcel Carné'sQuai des BrumesandDrôle de drame.He was greatly influenced by Schufftan's non-naturalistic style. His first success as adirector of photographywas René Clément's realistic war dramaLa Bataille du Railof 1946. In the same year he worked on Jean Cocteau's fableLa Belle et la Bête.[citation needed]

He found himself out of sympathy with the French New Wave cinema which emerged in the late 1950s and Alekan shot some rather conventional films in Hollywood. A new generation of directors appreciated his visionary style, however, and he worked withRaúl RuizonThe TerritoryandOn Top of the Whale,withJoseph LoseyonFigures in a LandscapeandThe Trout,and withWim WendersonThe State of ThingsandWings of Desire.His last films were made with the Israeli directorAmos Gitai.[1]

He wrote one of the best books about cinematographyDes lumières et des ombres(1984, Éditions du Collectionneur).

Death[edit]

Alekan died fromleukemiaon 15 June 2001 inAuxerre,Bourgogne,aged 92. [2]

Filmography[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Ronald Bergen (19 June 2001)."Henri Alekan".The Guardian.London, UK.Retrieved25 June2011.
  2. ^"Henri Alekan rejoint la lumière".Libération.16 June 2001.

External links[edit]

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