Cinematographer Tom Richmond dies at 72

Washington: Tom Richmond, a cinematographer who worked on movies like ‘Stand and Deliver’, ‘Killing Zoe’, ‘Little Odessa’, ‘Slums of Beverly Hills’, and ‘Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist’ among others, has passed away. He was 72.

According to Anthony Jannelli, who oversees cinematography at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Richmond passed away on Friday in New York City (Richmond also taught at NYU). There was no immediate word on the cause of death, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Richmond also directed Keenan Ivory Wayans’ ‘I’m Gonna Git You Sucka’ (1988), ‘Scott Silver’s Johns’ (1996), Rob Zombie’s ‘House of 1,000 Corpses’ (2003), and Todd Solondz’s ‘Palindromes’. Richmond served as the director of photography on nearly forty features (2004).

He received the best cinematography award at ‘Sundance’ in 2006 for his work on the drama Right at Your Door’, which dealt with a chemical bomb attack by terrorists.

He was nominated for Spirit Awards for his work on the crime drama ‘Little Odessa’ (1994), which starred Tim Roth and was the feature directorial debut of James Gray, and the Ramon Menendez-directed Edward James Olmos breakout, ‘Stand & Deliver’ (1988).

Keith Gordon’s films ‘The Chocolate War’ (1988), ‘A Midnight Clear’ (1992), ‘Mother Night’ (1996), ‘Waking the Dead’ (2000), and ‘The Singing Detective’ were all filmed in Richmond (2003).

Additionally, he worked as the D.P. for director Jesse Peretz on the films ‘First Love’, ‘Last Rites’ (1997), ‘The Chateau’ (2001), and ‘The Ex’ (2006), as per The Hollywood Reporter.

Richmond “was an older guy with the vibe of a teenage skateboarder. He used to refer to himself as the Keith Richards of photography. And in a way he was exactly that,” Peretz wrote on Facebook.

“He taught me not only so much about photography but also about character and story. He never wanted the photography to upstage the characters — and in that way, he served his movies and their stories, even if it undermined his ability to grab the limelight and promote himself.”

Thomas Julian Richmond, who was born in Bronxville, New York, in 1950, earned a photography degree from Harvard University.