Rodrigo Prieto

Rodrigo Prieto Stambaugh, ASC, AMC (born November 23, 1965), is a Mexican cinematographer. He has collaborated with Martin Scorsese and Alejandro González Iñárritu, among other prominent directors. He is a member of both the Mexican Society of Cinematographers and the American Society of Cinematographers. Throughout his career, Prieto has received many awards and nominations, including three Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography in Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain (2005), Martin Scorsese's Silence (2016), and The Irishman (2019). Early life and education Rodrigo Prieto was born in Mexico City, Mexico. His grandfather, Jorge Prieto Laurens, was the mayor of Mexico City and leader of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, but was later persecuted by the country's ruler because of political differences. Prieto's grandfather escaped with his family to Texas and then to Los Angeles, where Prieto's father would spend most of his childhood. Prieto's father studied aeronautical engineering at New York University, where he met and married Prieto's mother, an artist. Rodrigo Prieto graduated from Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica in Mexico City. Career Prieto became an established cinematographer, working with such names as Spike Lee (25th Hour), Curtis Hanson (8 Mile), Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain and Lust, Caution) and Pedro Almodóvar (Broken Embraces). Nonetheless, his political legacy still had a visible effect on his career. In 2002, Prieto shot Frida, a film about Frida Kahlo, a Communist Mexican artist. In 2003, Prieto cooperated with Oliver Stone in two documentary projects: Comandante, about Fidel Castro, and Persona Non Grata, about Yasser Arafat. In 2004, Prieto shot Alexander for Stone. Prieto also worked with Alejandro González Iñárritu on the acclaimed Amores perros, 21 Grams, Babel and Biutiful. Prieto is noted for his unconventional use of the camera often combined with strong moody lighting. In 25th Hour, Prieto utilized overexposure and other techniques to create original dream-like images to signify that the events shown on screen are memories or visions. Similarly innovative photography could be spotted in Frida, featuring strong colors and sharp imagery blended with atmospheric yellows and browns, as well as his experimental use of infrared during a battle scene in Alexander. Prieto also is interested in evoking naturalism, most evident in The Homesman and Brokeback Mountain.