Natalie Kingston

Portrait by Romero & Romero

As a child in New Iberia, Natalie Kingston was always staging some kind of production, be it stage plays or Barbie photoshoots. When she got a VHS camera at age 10, she would make short films with her sister, cousins and friends. Those early experiences helped lead  Kingston to making history last year as the first woman to win an Emmy for cinematography in fiction for the Apple+ limited series “Black Bird.”

“As Cajun people, we’re storytellers at heart, so I have this innate desire to share stories with people,” the 42-year-old Kingston said. “As a cinematographer, that’s the heart of my job.”

The University of Louisiana graduate worked on “Black Bird” during the tumultuous summer of 2021 when COVID-19’s Delta surge and Hurricane Ida wreaked havoc on the state. Ida delayed production for two weeks. Much of “Black Bird” takes place in a prison (it’s the story of an inmate trying to get a suspected serial killer to confess his crimes), which presented unique challenges to Kingston as a cinematographer.

“It was important for the camera to stay inside the conversations of the two main characters … I used wider focal lengths of lenses, keeping the camera physically close to the actors. This way, the audience would feel immersed in these disturbing conversations and it created a palpable tension,” Kingston said.

When Kingston heard her name called at the Emmys, she said it was “an utterly surreal experience.” She had only 30 seconds to give her acceptance speech, so she crammed in as many names as she could: her husband Brian, her family, the show’s creator Dennis Lehane, her agents and more.

Kingston, who includes cinematographers like Roger Deakins and Conrad Hall as inspirations, has also worked on music videos for Billie Eilish.

“In music videos, it’s largely about the visuals and the music, and most of the time, it’s nonlinear in structure,” Kingston said. “With narrative filmmaking, you’re working with actors to tell a story … I also have to maintain continuity throughout a scene and the project as a whole.”

A film Kingston worked on, “The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer,” will soon premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. She is also working on commercials. When  not on set, she enjoys taking still photos, watching films, traveling, interior design and spending time and creating with her husband.