Jens Fischer(I)

A prime master of Swedish light, Jens Fischer is a cinematographer in the tradition of DP's like Julius Jaenzon, Sven Nykvist and his own father, Gunnar Fischer. He grew up observing his father's collaboration with Ingmar Bergman on historic films such as Le Septième Sceau (1957), Les Fraises sauvages (1957), Monika et le désir (1953) and Le visage (1958), while participating himself in front of the camera on L'attente des femmes (1952). After studying Art and Music History at the Sorbonne University in Paris, he went back to Sweden and begun to work as a cinematographer, quickly developing a personal style of his own. A great fan of flemish painters, Fischer is capable to apply a richness in contrast and depth to his films, comparable to some of the images of Rubens and Van Eyck. Some of his most remarkable works (much contrasting in style) are The Queen of Sheba's Pearls (2004), with one of the most sensitive lightings in recent Scandinavian cinematography, and Beneath the Surface - descente aux enfers (1997), a film in the tradition of Pulp Fiction and Requiem for a Dream. Jens Fischer has won multiple national and international prizes such as Camerimage, as well as three Guldbagge Awards (Sweden's Academy Awards). He has also been the Director of Photography of the Oscar nominated feature Under the Sun (1998).