Robert Yeoman


Robert David Yeoman, is an American cinematographer.
He's best known for his collaboration with director Wes Anderson, working in all of his live-action films from 1996 to 2024, with his work on The Grand Budapest Hotel earning him an Academy Award for [Best Cinematography|Academy Award] and a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Cinematography.

Life and career

Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, Yeoman spent his childhood in the northern suburbs of Chicago. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University in 1973 and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in 1979.
Yeoman's first filmwork was done as a second unit director of photography on To Live and Die in LA, directed by William Friedkin in 1986. He went on to shoot many independent films including Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy — for which he won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography — Noah Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale, Roman Coppola's CQ and Kevin Smith's Dogma. He has worked on almost every live-action feature film by Wes Anderson, including Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, and The Royal Tenenbaums as cinematographer, as well as The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel, credited as director of photography. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Yeoman is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers.

Style

Yeoman frequently collaborates with director Wes Anderson. His style in Anderson's films consists of using color palettes to highlight the colors of the set and costumes. Anderson and Yeoman shoot the movies with film stock, anamorphic lenses, soft lighting, and theater-like composition, giving them the distinctive visuals for which Anderson's films are known.

Filmography

Film

Short film
YearTitleDirector
2007Hotel ChevalierWes Anderson
2023The Wonderful Story of Henry SugarWes Anderson
2023The Rat CatcherWes Anderson
2023PoisonWes Anderson

Television

TV movies
YearTitleDirector
1986C.A.T. SquadWilliam Friedkin
1991Perfect HarmonyWill Mackenzie
1993Double DeceptionJan Egleson
1998The Pentagon WarsRichard Benjamin