Newton Thomas Sigel

Sigel was born in Detroit, Michigan,^[2] and studied painting in New York City,^[1] becoming an artist-in-residence at the Whitney Museum of American Art.^[1]

He began his career working with experimental filmmaker Kenneth Anger as a camera operator.^[1]

Becoming a documentary filmmaker, he shot a number of projects, including El Salvador: Another Vietnam, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. His photography caught the attention of DP Haskell Wexler,^[1] and the two spent several years developing what would become the 1985 film Latino, his first feature film as director of photography.^[1]

Sigel worked mostly on television films and as a second unit DP throughout the 1980s. He regularly served under Robert Richardson on films like Platoon and The Doors.

Starting with The Usual Suspects in 1995, Sigel become the regular cinematographer of director Bryan Singer until 2018.

Sigel is Jewish^[3] and married to Lisa Chang.^[1]

His father, Irving Sigel, was a psychologist who worked for the Educational Testing Service. His mother, Roberta Sigel, was a professor at Rutgers who studied gender and politics.