Sven Nykvist

He was married to Ulla Söderlind from 1952 to 1968.

He later married Ulrika Nykvist.

His son, filmmaker Carl-Gustaf Nykvist released a documentary on his life on August 26, 2000, titled ‘Light Keeps Me Company’ that saw participation of many of his colleagues from the film industry.

He was born on December 3, 1922, in Moheda, a locality in Kronobergs län in southern Sweden. His parents were missionaries who followed Lutheranism and spent many years in Belgian Congo, a Belgian colony in Central Africa.

During his parents’ absence he along with his siblings lived in a Christian children’s home located at Stockholm. His parents returned to Sweden when Nykvist was ten.

His enthusiasm in visual arts might have been infused by his father’s activities, who himself was an amateur photographer of the wildlife of Africa.

He purchased his first 8mm camera when he was only fifteen years of age.

He was also a gifted athlete in his youth and to enhance his athletic techniques he filmed himself taking a high jump, which remained his first cinematic endeavour with the camera.

Nykvist, still in his teens, joined the ‘Sandrews’ studio as an assistant cameraman in 1941. While working the young Nykvist came across many eminent Swedish film personalities of that era such as Alf Sjöberg, Lorens Marmstedt, Hasse Ekman, Julius Jaenzon and Viveca Lindfors.

In 1943 he relocated to Italy where he joined the ‘Cinecittà Studios’ in Rome. He returned to Sweden in 1945, after a stint of two years. The same year he made his debut as a full-fledged cinematographer in the Rolf Husberg directed popular film ‘Barnen från Frostmofjället’ (‘The Children from Frostmo Mountain’).

The next few years saw him working on several small Swedish films. He also visited and stayed with his parents in Africa during this time and filmed the wildlife there. A documentary featuring the wildlife footages captured by him was later released with the title ‘In the Footsteps of the Witch Doctor’. It was also called ‘Under the Southern Cross’.

In 1953 his spectacular association with noted film director Ingmar Bergman began when he started working as one of the three cinematographers for the latter’s film ‘Sawdust and Tinsel’. The film was released as ‘The Naked Night’ in the United States.

With time he emerged as a full-time cinematographer of Ingmar Bergman replacing famous cameraperson Gunnar Fischer. The creative collaboration of the two that lasted for around four decades saw a deflection of the legendary director’s films from an earlier theatrical look.

He won the ‘Academy Award for Best Cinematography’ for ‘Cries and Whispers’ (‘Viskningar och rop) in 1973 and for ‘Fanny and Alexander’ (‘Fanny och Alexander’) in 1983.