John Hazard is a cinematographer with a long resume involving documentary films with scientific and anthropological themes.
For Nova, he shot the story of the supernova discovered by astronomers at the famed observatories in Chile, as well as the episode on the ancient Inca for the series on lost civilizations.
For Discovery, he has photographed stories on volcanoes in Columbia, human sacrifice in ancient Peru, desert life among the Tuareg in Niger, migrating sand dunes in Mauritania, the 5,000 year old “iceman” in Balzano, Italy, and life in the Navy on the USS Ronald Reagan as it navigates through the Straits of Magellan.
For National Geographic, he has been to Egypt on six different projects. He was the cinematographer when archeologists took King Tut out of his tomb and put him into a CT scan machine. He was shooting when the body of Egypt’s only female pharaoh, Hatshepsut, was discovered. He’s been to the base of Manhattan bedrock for a massive water tunnel project that features the workers known as sandhogs, and to the heights above New York with Phillippe Petit, known for having walked a high wire between the World Trade Towers. He shot “Secrets of Florence,” which explores the physical and artistic wonders of that city during the Italian Renaissance.
For the New York Times, he shot pieces on Mayan pyramids in Belize, beached whales in the Bahamas, and disappearing glaciers on Kilimanjaro.
For PBS, he has worked on definitive biographies about Richard Nixon, the Kennedys, and George Wallace. He shot major portions of “I’ll Make Me a World,” a history of African-American artists in the twentieth century, and “Rock and Roll.” He has been a regular on “History Detectives,” currently shooting its ninth season.
For HBO, he shot the documentary that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the deadly fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. He worked with Lisa Jackson on “Sex Crimes Unit,” as well as her earlier efforts for Hallmark Channel called “Heroes,” involving true stories of real people who found themselves suddenly in the position to save someone’s life.
John has a special passion for cinema verite. Shooting scenes in real time, using both eyes to anticipate what’s about to happen, while shaping the moment with camera movement that offers flexibility during editing is what makes shooting documentaries so exciting.
Once upon a time, John was producer/cinematographer on three music videos featuring The Clash, the seminal punk band that was inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
