Michael Bauman

Michael Bauman

Gaffer. Born in Wisconsin, U.S..

GafferAmerican
11
Titles on Fi1m
79
Average Fi1m score
1
Oscar nomination
Active
2001–present

Biography

Michael Bauman is an American cinematographer. He graduated from the American Film Institute's cinematography programme in 1992 and began his career as a lighting technician on music videos and feature films, later working as a gaffer on numerous productions including Stuart Little (1999), The Master (2012) and Inherent Vice (2014). He co-founded LiteGear, a lighting equipment manufacturer.

Bauman has collaborated extensively with director Paul Thomas Anderson. He worked as lighting cameraman on Phantom Thread (2017), co-cinematographer on Licorice Pizza (2021) and sole cinematographer on One Battle After Another (2025). He has also served as director of photography on television series including American Horror Stories, Feud and Monster, and on the film Tony (2026).

For his work on One Battle After Another, Bauman received an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography. He has won awards from the American Society of Cinematographers and the British Society of Cinematographers for the same film.

On Fi1m