Andrew Lesnie: Cinematographer who won an Academy Award for his work with Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings

Lesnie died after suffering from a serious heart condition

Lesnie with his Oscar in 2002: Peter Jackson spoke of his ‘infectious laugh’ and ‘quiet wisdom’ (AP)

Andrew Lesnie was a cinematographer best-known for his work on The Lord of the Rings. He won an Oscar in 2002 for The Fellowship of the Ring, the first film in the series. He worked with director Peter Jackson on all six Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, as well as The Lovely Bones and the 2005 remake of King Kong.

Lesnie started out in 1978 as an assistant camera operator on the film Patrick while he was still a student at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. He first began attracting high-profile attention after his work on Babe (1995) and its sequel, Babe: Pig in the City.

Jackson recruited him to work on his Lord of the Rings project, and the pair carried out extensive pre-production work; Lesnie's use of earthy colours did much to establish the films' visual aesthetic. In an emotional statement, Jackson said he considered Lesnie a brother, a calm, steady and supportive presence on set who never sought admiration despite being one of the greatest cinematographers of all time.

"Andrew was an irreplaceable part of my family and I am in total disbelief that I'll never again hear his infectious laugh, nor benefit from his quiet wisdom or enjoy his generous praise," Jackson wrote. "He created unforgettable, beautiful images, time and again, because he only ever served what he believed in – he was his own artist, separate from me, but always working generously to make what we were trying to create together better."

More recently Lesnie had worked on the Australian war drama The Water Diviner with Russell Crowe, who tweeted: "The master of the light, genius Andrew Lesnie, has passed on." Lesnie died after suffering from a serious heart condition.

SHANNON BAXTER

Andrew Lesnie, cinematographer: born Sydney 1956; died 27 April 2015.