Gabriel Figueroa

Camera

🎂 1907-04-24

Gabriel Figueroa Mateos (April 24, 1907 – April 27, 1997) was a Mexican cinematographer who worked both in Mexican cinema and Hollywood. His mother died after giving birth to him. His father, unable to cope with the loss of his wife, left Gabriel and his brother Roberto to be cared for by their aunts. He studied painting at the Academia de San Carlos, and at the age of 16 he became interested in photography thanks to José Guadalupe Velasco. He later befriended other photographers, such as Gilberto Martínez Solares and Raúl Martínez Solares, and these three would then move on to cinematography. Figueroa made his entry in the movie industry in 1932 as a photographer of stills for the film Revolución of Miguel Contreras Torres. He was later one of the 20 cinematographers hired for the Howard Hawks film Viva Villa!. After a few jobs he obtained a scholarship to study in the United States where the established director of photography Gregg Toland taught Figueroa. Back in Mexico, his first film was Fernando de Fuentes's Allá en el Rancho Grande (1936) which would become one of the most popular films in Mexico and Latin America, and gave him his first award at the Venice Film Festival. He filmed 235 movies over 50 years, including Los Olvidados by Luis Buñuel, The Night of the Iguana by John Huston, The Fugitive by John Ford, and Río Escondido by Emilio Fernández. One of his main collaborators was Fernández, with whom he shot twenty films, some of which won prizes at the Venice Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, and the Berlin Film Festival. After collaborating with Fernández and Buñuel on their films with such actors as Dolores del Río, Pedro Armendáriz, María Félix, Jorge Negrete, Columba Domínguez, and Silvia Pinal, Figueroa has come to be regarded one of the most influential cinematographers active in México.

Cast credits(5)

Self

1984

Self

1964

Self

1958

Self

1984

1979

Camera (129)

Director of Photography

1970

Director of Photography

1964

Director of Photography

1970

Director of Photography

1962

Director of Photography

1950

Director of Photography

1960

Director of Photography

1984

Director of Photography

1953

Director of Photography

1971

Director of Photography

1965

Director of Photography

1959

Director of Photography

1947

Director of Photography

1941

Director of Photography

1957

Director of Photography

1944

Director of Photography

1941

Director of Photography

1959

Director of Photography

1950

Director of Photography

1945

Director of Photography

1949

Director of Photography

1980

Director of Photography

1967

Director of Photography

1940

Director of Photography

1961

Director of Photography

1967

Director of Photography

1978

Director of Photography

1948

Director of Photography

1963

Camera Operator

1959

Director of Photography

1959

Director of Photography

1945

Director of Photography

1954

Director of Photography

1952

Director of Photography

1954

Director of Photography

1970

Director of Photography

1963

Director of Photography

1949

Director of Photography

1968

Director of Photography

1942

Director of Photography

1953

Director of Photography

1950

Director of Photography

1943

Director of Photography

1947

Director of Photography

1960

Director of Photography

1943

Director of Photography

1968

Director of Photography

1949

Director of Photography

1961

Director of Photography

1959

Director of Photography

1960

Director of Photography

1971

Director of Photography

1951

Director of Photography

1963

Director of Photography

1959

Director of Photography

1948

Director of Photography

1943

Director of Photography

1954

Director of Photography

1956

Director of Photography

1946

Director of Photography

1965

Director of Photography

1939

Director of Photography

1969

Director of Photography

1973

Director of Photography

1952

Director of Photography

1936

Director of Photography

1941

Camera Operator

1936

Director of Photography

1951

Director of Photography

1968

Director of Photography

1973

Director of Photography

1952

Director of Photography

1966

Director of Photography

1966

Director of Photography

1949

Director of Photography

1984

Director of Photography

1936

Director of Photography

1959

Director of Photography

1956

Director of Photography

1980

Director of Photography

1965

Director of Photography

1939

Director of Photography

1978

Director of Photography

1976

Director of Photography

1961

Director of Photography

1974

Director of Photography

1940

Director of Photography

1942

Director of Photography

1968

Director of Photography

1981

Director of Photography

1967

Director of Photography

1977

Director of Photography

1941

Director of Photography

1952

Director of Photography

1962

Director of Photography

1963

Director of Photography

1937

Director of Photography

1958

Director of Photography

1967

Director of Photography

1971

Director of Photography

1949

Director of Photography

1958

Director of Photography

1955

Director of Photography

1945

Director of Photography

1969

Director of Photography

1940

Director of Photography

1940

Still Photographer

1934

Director of Photography

1941

Director of Photography

1940

Director of Photography

1946

Director of Photography

1938

Director of Photography

1944

Director of Photography

1940

Director of Photography

1941

Director of Photography

1951

Director of Photography

1952

Director of Photography

1946

Director of Photography

1955

Director of Photography

1974

Director of Photography

1938

Director of Photography

1941

Director of Photography

1939

Director of Photography

1950

Director of Photography

1940

Director of Photography

1942

Director of Photography

1958

Director of Photography

1964

Director of Photography

1964

Director of Photography

1970

Cast credits(5)

Camera (129)

Crew (37)