Carlo Di Palma

Di Palma was born into a poor Roman family; his mother was a flower seller on the Spanish Steps,^[2] while his father was a camera operator for a number of Italian film studios.^[3]

In an interview shortly before his death, Di Palma recounted his childhood memories of observing his father in action: "I'd run to the studio or the location, and watch my father work. I was fascinated by the whole experience. I would stand on a crate sometimes and watch. All of the people that were on the location were pleasant to me. I was very quiet and observant, so with that they let me stay on set. I would watch many different directors over and over."^[3]

Aside from his career as a cinematographer, Di Palma was also a little-known film director.^[4]

In 2002, Di Palma was hired to shoot Woody Allen's film Anything Else (2003), and actually started location scouting before failing an insurance physical, which was required for all key personnel on the crew. Because of that, Darius Khondji replaced Di Palma, to his great disappointment, as he had been eager to work again after having been on the sidelines for the past six years.^[5]

Di Palma moved to the United States in 1983.

Around the same time, he married Adriana Chiesa, an exporter of Italian films. She nursed him through his final years.^[2]