1. Gabriel Figueroa Mateos was a Mexican cinematographer who is regarded as one of the greatest cinematographers of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.
13 Facts About Gabriel Figueroa
1. 2.
Gabriel Figueroa has worked in over 200 films, which cover a broad range of genres, and is best known for his technical dominance, his careful handling of framing and chiaroscuro, and affinity for the aesthetics of artists.
3.
Gabriel Figueroa was the grandson of the famous lawyer, journalist and liberal writer Juan A Mateos and first cousin to Mexican president Adolfo Lopez Mateos.
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Gabriel Figueroa's mother died after giving birth to him and his father, unable to cope with the loss of his wife, left Gabriel and his brother Roberto to be cared for by their aunts.
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Gabriel Figueroa then fled to Paris, where he eventually succumbed to alcohol and despair.
6.
Gabriel Figueroa first started learning photography, which became his source of income, with Lalo Guerrero.
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Gabriel Figueroa worked in a studio on Colonia Guerrero, where people would get their pictures taken with painted curtains in the background and under natural light.
8.
Towards the end of the 1920s, Gabriel Figueroa went on to work with photographers Juan de la Pena and Jose Guadalupe Velasco, before establishing his own studio with his friend Gilberto Martinez Solares.
9.
In 1932, thanks to his friend Gilberto, Gabriel Figueroa met cinematographer Alex Phillips.
10.
Towards the end of June 1933, Gabriel Figueroa made his debut as a cinematographer in several shots of the medium-length documentary El vuelo glorioso de Barberan y Collar, directed by Rene Cardona.
11.
On November 13,1934, Gabriel Figueroa would begin working on the film Tribu with fellow collaborator Miguel Contreras Torres, who Gabriel Figueroa had his first job as a still photographer in 1932.
12.
Gabriel Figueroa filmed 235 movies over 50 years, including Los Olvidados by Luis Bunuel, The Fugitive by John Ford, Rio Escondido by Emilio Fernandez, and The Night of the Iguana by John Huston for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 1964.
13.
Gabriel Figueroa has come to be regarded as one of the most influential cinematographers of Mexico.