“Compositionally, proportionally and spatially, artists are doing crazy things. I think cinematography’s going to have to stay in step somehow with street culture and street art and YouTube and the way people are making animated films, and incorporate them into live action.”
Growing up in Queens but moving to California before he was a teenager, Matthew Libatique has emerged as one of the brightest stars of a new generation of cinematographers, shooting some of the boldest films of the last two decades. With his frequent collaborator, director Darren Aronofsky, he has lensed Pi (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Fountain (2006), and Black Swan (2010), expertly mixing genres to create wholly original, visionary and highly subjective portraits of individuals at war with the outside world.
Libatique can also cite several other fruitful partnerships in his young career. With director Joel Schumacher, he has made Tigerland (2000), Phone Booth (2002), and The Number 23 (2007), lending a grittiness to the veteran filmmaker’s post-blockbuster visual aesthetic. He has also had the opportunity to collaborate with one of his early heroes, Spike Lee, on She Hate Me (2004), Inside Man (2006), Miracle at St. Anna (2008), and Passing Strange (2009). Most recently, he teamed up with director Jon Favreau for Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), and Cowboys & Aliens (2011). Libatique received his first Oscar nomination for Black Swan.
