James Frazier OAM ACS (26 November 1940 – 17 September 2022) was an Australian inventor, naturalist and cinematographer who invented the Frazier lens. He won many Australian and international awards for his work, including an Academy Award for Technical Achievement[1] and an Emmy Award. He is known for filming documentaries for David Attenborough together with his long-time collaborator Australian naturalist, photographer and writer Densey Clyne.
Jim Frazier | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Albert Frazier 26 November 1940 Armidale, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 17 September 2022 (aged 81) Taree, New South Wales, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation(s) | Inventor, naturalist, cinematographer |
| Known for | Frazier lens |
Clyne and Frazier formed a partnership known as Mantis Wildlife Films and their work including Webs of Intrigue,[2] has won numerous international awards. David Attenborough asked the pair to work on his series Life on Earth, The Living Planet and The Trials of Life. Frazier and Clyne contributed 55 minutes of footage to Life on Earth.[3]
Frazier's career as a wildlife cinematographer spread over more than 40 years, with an Emmy, 3 Golden Tripods,[4] a US Industrial Film & Video Gold Camera Award, an Honorary Science Doctorate and over 40 national and international awards for his work that include the acclaimed Cane Toads: An Unnatural History.
Frazier was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 1995 Queen's Birthday Honours List for "service to wildlife cinematography".[5][6]
He was winner of a Technical Oscar in 1997 for his invention of the Frazier lens System, which has revolutionised the international film industry, an ingenious lens that provides an extended depth of field and an ability to have both the foreground and background in focus. The lens has been used by leading filmmakers including Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and in television commercials. In October 1998, Jim was presented with the John Grierson International Gold Medal [7] for pioneering work in micro/macro cinematography of invertebrate animals leading to the design of the Frazier lens System.
Frazier also worked on a lens that promised to have a similar impact, being simpler and needing much less light. He also designed and tested 3D capture using a single lens.[8]
He also created crystal artworks, that were developed through the growth and manipulation of crystals on glass plates. The crystals are shaped with the use of sound tones, energy fields and heat to make brilliant compositions and captured by special photographic techniques. They are featured in private collections around the world including those of Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton.[9]
Frazier died on 17 September 2022, at the age of 81.[10][11]
References
edit- ^ Academy Awards 1998 Academy Awards, USA (1998). Technical Achievement Award Winner.
- ^ Webs of Intrigue
- ^ Jim Frazier Living in Earths True Eden[permanent dead link]
- ^ Australian Cinematographers Society
- ^ "QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY 1995 HONOURS". The Canberra Times. Vol. 70, no. 21, 970. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 12 June 1995. p. 4. Retrieved 21 September 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "James Albert Frazier". Australian Honours Search Facility, Dept of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
- ^ "The John Grierson International Gold Medal Award Winners". Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
- ^ Global Bionic Optics
- ^ "Dr Jim Frazier AM, former camera man for David Attenborough, died on Saturday, September 17, 2022 in Taree NSW". 20 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
- ^ "Pioneering and award-winning wildlife cinematographer Jim Frazier dies, but his legacy lives on". 20 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
- ^ "Attenborough's 'innovative genius', award-winning wildlife cinematographer Jim Frazier, dies". ABC News. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
External links
edit- Jim Frazier at the Encyclopedia of Australian Science
- Jim Frazier - profile at Focus Australia