“The Night Of’s bleak and inhospitable New York forms the backdrop to the broader issues that trouble America in a heated election year.”

But what makes the show worthwhile, aside from the great performances, is its grim nocturnal vision of a post-9/11 New York. The Night Of represents the modern urban landscape as a space of racial tension and distrust, where communities struggle to comingle amid a political climate of fear and paranoia. While the series presents us with a multicultural nation, personal and ideological conflicts make it a nation divided against itself. And so, The Night Of’s bleak and inhospitable New York forms the backdrop to the broader issues that trouble America in a heated election year.

One of the reasons that New York looks so striking is down to the work of its cinematographer, Frederick Elmes (credited as Fred). Filmgoers might be familiar with Elmes’ work on movies like Kinsey (2004), Broken Flowers (2005), or Synecdoche, New York (2008), but the canvas Elmes paints of New York is perhaps closer in style and tone to his first full-length feature, David Lynch’s Eraserhead (1977).

Jack Nance plays The Man in the Planet in David Lynch’s Eraserhead (1977)

Poster for the world premiere of Eraserhead on 19 March 1977, The 1977 Los Angeles International Film Exposition

Frederick Elmes became the cinematographer of Eraserhead when he took over from fellow cameraman Herb Caldwell midway through its production. He had previous worked with director David Lynch on a short entitled ‘The Amputee’, which starred Twin Peaks’ Log Lady Catherine E. Coulson. Throughout Lynch’s cult midnight movie, we can watch how Elmes ingeniously manipulates light to tell the story, creating everything from almost pitch-dark imaginary spaces to bright, searing visions. The film’s thick black-and-white gloss conjures a nightmarish vision of industrial urban life.

“[Eraserhead‘s] thick black-and-white gloss conjures a nightmarish vision of industrial urban life.”

While we celebrate the work of the actors, directors, and producers that brought The Night Of to the screen, it’s worth taking a moment to celebrate the skill and genius of a cinematographer like Frederick Elmes. An artist who not only helps to tell the story, but skilfully brings its themes of light and dark to our eyes.

Recommended Reads

• Frederick Elmes‘ Top 10 movies from the Criterion Collection [Read]
• A fascinating interview with Frederick Elmes, where he discusses the production of Eraserhead [Read]
• Mary McNamara‘s even-handed critique of The Night Of for the Los Angeles Times [Read]
• Alexis Okeowo‘s interesting review, ‘Riz Ahmed’s Tragic Transformation on “The Night Of”’ for The New Yorker [Read]

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