---
name: "Ken Kelsch"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/ken-kelsch"
fi1m_id: "ken-kelsch"
imdb_id: "nm0004302"
tmdb_id: 45535
wikidata_id: "Q60561146"
roles: ["Cinematographer"]
born: "8 July 1947"
died: "11 December 2023"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 82
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-17T17:44:08.429817+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Ken Kelsch

## Identity

Ken Kelsch

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/ken-kelsch
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** ken-kelsch
- **IMDb ID:** nm0004302
- **TMDB ID:** 45535
- **Wikidata ID:** Q60561146
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Kelsch, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60561146, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004302/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/45535

Cinematographer. Born 8 July 1947 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Died 11 December 2023.

## Details

- **Work:** Cinematographer
- **Born:** 8 July 1947, Brooklyn, New York, USA
- **Died:** 11 December 2023
- **Active:** 1992–1996
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Kelsch, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60561146, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004302/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/45535

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Big Night*](https://film.one/film/big-night.md) (84)
- **The Criterion Channel:** [*Bad Lieutenant*](https://film.one/film/bad-lieutenant.md) (80)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Ken Kelsch (1947–2023) was an American cinematographer. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Kelsch is known for his long collaboration with director Abel Ferrara, on more than a dozen films including *The Driller Killer* (1979), *Bad Lieutenant* (1992), *The Addiction* (1995), *The Funeral* (1996) and *Welcome to New York* (2014). He also shot *Big Night* (1996), directed by Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott, and episodes of the television series *Medium* (2005–2006). He received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Cinematography for *The Funeral*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, hollywoodreporter.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Big Night* (1996), Fi1m 84, Cinematography, Director of Photography — [page](https://film.one/film/big-night.md)
- *Bad Lieutenant* (1992), Fi1m 80, Cinematography, Director of Photography — [page](https://film.one/film/bad-lieutenant.md)

## Complete filmography (45)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Projectionist* (2019), Director of Photography
- *Talking with the Vampires* (2018), as Director of Photography
- *The Brooklyn Banker* (2016), Director of Photography
- *Welcome to New York* (2014), Director of Photography
- *House of Last Things* (2013), Director of Photography
- *4:44 Last Day on Earth* (2012), Director of Photography
- *Desert Flower* (2009), Director of Photography
- *Sıcak* (2008), Director of Photography
- *Return to Sleepaway Camp* (2008), Director of Photography, Cinematography
- *100 Feet* (2008), as Garbage Man · Director of Photography
- *Chelsea on the Rocks* (2008), Director of Photography
- *Before It Had a Name* (2005), Director of Photography
- *Medium* (2005), series, Director of Photography
- *Missing in America* (2005), Director of Photography
- *Happy End* (2003), Director of Photography
- *Asmalı Konak: Hayat* (2003), Director of Photography
- *Testosterone* (2003), Director of Photography
- *'R Xmas* (2001), Director of Photography
- *It Had to Be You* (2000), Director of Photography
- *New Rose Hotel* (1999), as The Expeditor · Director of Photography
- *Invisible Child* (1999), Director of Photography
- *Rear Window* (1998), Director of Photography
- *Susan's Plan* (1998), as Casino Pit Boss · Director of Photography
- *The Impostors* (1998), Director of Photography
- *Montana* (1998), Director of Photography
- *A Brooklyn State of Mind* (1998), Director of Photography
- *Every 9 Seconds* (1997), Director of Photography
- *Subway Stories* (1997), Director of Photography
- *The Blackout* (1997), Director of Photography
- *The Prosecutors* (1996), Director of Photography
- *Big Night* (1996), Director of Photography — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/big-night.md)
- *Killer: A Journal of Murder* (1996), Director of Photography
- *The Funeral* (1996), Director of Photography
- *Condition Red* (1995), Director of Photography
- *The Addiction* (1995), Director of Photography
- *Drop Squad* (1994), Director of Photography
- *Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker* (1994), Director of Photography
- *Dangerous Game* (1993), as Camera Operator (uncredited) · Director of Photography
- *Bad Lieutenant* (1992), Director of Photography — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/bad-lieutenant.md)
- *Killer Dead* (1992), Director of Photography
- *Spookies* (1986), Director of Photography
- *In Our Water* (1982), Additional Camera
- *Don't Go in the House* (1979), Actor
- *The Driller Killer* (1979), Director of Photography
- *Manson Girls*, Director of Photography

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/ken-kelsch