The American Society of Cinematographers has welcomed Zoë White ACS as a new member.
The cinematographer has received ASC and Emmy Award nominations for The Handmaid’s Tale, as well as an ASC nomination for the telefilm Hold Your Breath and an Emmy nomination for the documentary Will & Harper.
Speaking to American Cinematographer, White revealed what sparked her interest in photography as a teenager: when she took black-and-white photos with her grandfather’s Pentax as her family traveled in Italy. “It made me aware of being able to frame the world with my own eyes.”
After studying at North Carolina School of the Arts and the Australian Film, Television & Radio School, she served as the assistant to Tom Sigel ASC during the production of Superman Returns in Sydney.
From there, she started shooting music videos and independent films, as well as working on popular shows such as Hit & Run and Westworld.
After the release of Netflix thriller Hit & Run, White ran British Cinematographer through her shooting style, saying: “Part of our approach on Hit & Run was this idea of surveillance and being watched from afar, so we did a lot of shooting from tops of buildings looking down at the ants of our characters walking across the street.
“We also did a lot of shooting through things and foreground as if the camera was literally spying on our characters; that was a collaboration with Michael [Bricker, production designer] where I asked for a bunch of different materials to look through of varying thicknesses, and various types of glass and mesh.
“Those are the fun layers that you get to add because of a particular approach for the show.”
White was named an AC Rising Star of Cinematography in 2019 and was inducted into the Australian Cinematographers Society in 2017.
