Sven Nykvist, the gifted, two-time Oscar®-winning cinematographer whose collaboration with Ingmar Bergman revolutionized lighting techniques that have influenced filmmakers for generations, died in a nursing home in Sweden on September 20 after years of ill-health. He was 83.

He was born on December 3, 1922 in Moheda, Sweden. His parents were missionaries who lived in Africa leaving Nykvist to be raised by relatives in Sweden. For Nykvist, his parents' slideshows regarding their work in Africa would affect him strongly as he pursued an active interest in photography.

After completing military service, Nykvist became a focus puller in the film industry, and after apprenticing with cinematographers, he earned his first solo credit for the comedy 13 Stolar (1945). He would continue to expand his craft working on numerous films before striking up a fortuitous partnership with Ingmar Bergman in Sawdust and Tinsel (1953). Although Bergman wouldn't use him immediately afterwards, their next collaboration, the internationally acclaimed The Virgin Spring (1960) brought Nykvist's genius to the fore – namely his natural lighting techniques that strengthened the mood of the actors and their surroundings. The pristine definitions between light and shadow were in sharp contrast to the brash, high-key techniques that were associated with most Hollywood productions at the time.

From then on, Nykvist would work with Bergman on several of his most moving and stunning visual pieces: Through a Glass Darkly (1961), The Silence (1963), Persona (1966), The Passion of Anna (1969) and of course, his most deserved Oscar®s for Cries and Whispers (1972) and Fanny and Alexander (1982). Apart form his creations with Bergman, Nykvist's work with other directors reads like a who's who of contemporary filmmaking; and his carefully wrought lighting schemes only enhanced their pictures: Roman Polansky (The Tenant 1976), Louis Malle (Black Moon 1975, Pretty Baby 1978), Bob Rafelson (The Postman Always Rings Twice 1981), Bob Fosse (Star 80 1983), Philip Kaufman (The Unbearable Lightness Of Being 1988), Woody Allen (Another Woman 1988, Crimes & Misdemeanors 1989, Celebrity 1998), Lasse Halstrom (What's Eating Gilbert Grape 1993, Something to Talk About 1995), and Peter Yates (Curtain Call 1999).

Nykvist also proved to be a talented director and writer, as his sensitive rural drama Oxen (1991) was nominated for a best foreign film Oscar® and was given wide critical recognition. Nykvist retired from the film industry in 1999 for health reasons. He is survived by his son, the film director Carl-Gustav Nykvist; and his grandchildren, Marilde and Sonia.

by Michael T. Toole