The Biography

Frederick Elmes, A.S.C. (born November 4, 1946) is an American cinematographer who has won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography twice, for Wild at Heart and Night on Earth. Born in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, Elmes studied photography at the Rochester Institute of Technology, then attended the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, graduating in 1972. He enrolled in the Graduate Film Program at New York University's Department of Film and Television and graduated in 1975. At the American Film Institute, Elmes met aspiring film director David Lynch, who hired him for Eraserhead. Since then the two have collaborated on such films as Blue Velvet, and Wild at Heart.