American Cinematographer - August 2019 - 22

AC SPECIAL FOCUS
On Jan. 8, 1919, the American Society of Cinematographers
was officially chartered by the State of California. The ASC's
founding members comprised a group of 15 cinematographers, all
of whom were pioneers during a transformative tech boom, artistic renaissance and popular-culture revolution that helped shape
the 20th century. Here are their stories.
Officers

Philip E. Rosen - President
Born May 8, 1888, in Russia and raised in Machias, Maine,
Rosen worked as a projectionist and lab technician before becoming an $18-a-week cinematographer at Edison Studios in 1912. He
came to California in 1918 to photograph George Loane
Tucker's The Miracle Man. The success of the film brought Rosen
an offer from Universal to direct. Over the next 30 years he
helmed some 140 films, including The Young Rajah (1922) and The
Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln (1924). Rosen was later active in
the formation of the Screen Directors Guild (later known as the
Directors Guild of America) in 1936. He died on Oct. 22, 1951.

Charles Rosher - Vice President
Born on Nov. 17, 1885, in London, England, Rosher apprenticed with a series of still photographers before eventually being
invited to show his own stills at the Eastman School of Photography. When he came to the States to accompany the exhibit, he
brought a Williamson movie camera and started shooting actualities.
After arriving in California in 1911, Rosher briefly worked at
Universal City Studios before joining the staff of the Lasky Feature
Play Co. - which became the Famous Players-Lasky Corp. -

where he became actor-producer Mary Pickford's cinematographer and shot all her films from How Could You, Jean? (1918)
through My Best Girl (1927). Pickford occasionally loaned
Rosher out to other producers, including for Sunrise (1927),
which earned Rosher and co-cinematographer Karl Struss, ASC
the first Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Rosher
earned five additional Oscar nominations throughout the
years, receiving the Oscar for Best Color Cinematography
on The Yearling (1946). After retiring in 1955, he died in Lisbon,
Portugal, on Jan. 15, 1974.
Homer A. Scott - 2nd Vice President
Born in Cambria Center, N.Y., on Oct. 1, 1880, Scott's
early credits as cinematographer include Tom Sawyer (1917)
and Huck and Tom (1918). He worked with Mack Sennett on
such features as Molly O' (1921), The Crossroads of New
York (1922) and The Extra Girl (1923). As the 1920s continued,
Scott worked as a second cameraperson for comedian Harold
Lloyd, but mainly did underwater work and other specialized
cinematography. He went on to do the marine work on Tiger
Shark (1932) and Below the Sea (1933), among others. He
retired from films in 1936 and died on Dec. 23, 1956.

William C. Foster - Treasurer
Born in Bushnell, Ill., on Dec. 28, 1880, Foster started his
career working for the Chicago-based Selig Polyscope Co. in
1901. After moving to California, he was lead cinematographer
on the first five two-reelers that Charlie Chaplin made for
Mutual Film Corp. in 1916: The Floorwalker, The Fireman, One
A.M., The Count and The Vagabond. He later shot a number of
pictures with director Frank Lloyd, including A Tale of Two
Cities (1917) and The Silver Horde (1920), and also worked with
director Lois Weber. He died on Jan. 18, 1923.

From left: Philip E. Rosen, ASC (right) with cinematographer Rudolph Berquist; Charles Rosher, ASC; Homer A. Scott, ASC.
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August 2019

ASC 100th Anniversary

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Photos courtesy of the AC archives.

The Founding Members
By Robert S. Birchard

American Cinematographer - August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - August 2019