Upgrade Yourself: The Cinematographer's Lens

Our latest Upgrade Yourself featured award-winning cinematographer Bradford Young (Arrival, When They See Us, Selma, Solo: A Star Wars Story), who offered an insight into his creative process, placing an emphasis on connecting with people through authenticity.

Bradford shared some of his inspiration,and spoke on how to unlock talent, sharing his own motivations to continually evolve and hone his artform. Covering his process driven approach, the session touches on how to understand light and shadow within images, collating and layering references, creating look books and building textures, tones and colour palettes to bold and dramatic effect.

Always putting people at the heart of his subject matter, Bradford says 'image makers should have philosophies and dreams.' Sit back, listen and be inspired.

Bradford's inspirations

Maurice Berger: historian, writer and curator, a forceful voice against both overt and subtle racism in the art world.

Nat Brown: local photographer in Bradford's hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, who shot pictures of black weddings and funerals, as a personal record of time.

Malik Sayeed: cinematographer, producer and director, whose credits include Beyoncé's Formation amongst many others.

Ernest Dickerson: director and cinematographer, known for his frequent collaborations with Spike Lee, and acclaimed work on The Wire and The Walking Dead.