An autobiography of sorts, Cameraperson demands we think beyond Johnson's own extraordinary career and reflect upon our own status as observers, and the ethical and emotional responsibilities that come with it.

| Aug 25, 2018

Cameraperson is at its best when it captures instances of unexpected life.

| Aug 10, 2017

A life behind the lens is examined in "Cameraperson," a fascinating, purposely disjointed documentary from director Kirsten Johnson.

| Original Score: B+ | Apr 14, 2017

Watching Cameraperson, we take Johnson's rich images into ourselves. Having watched them, experienced them, they become entangled with us, too.

| Feb 7, 2017

Although we only see Johnson's face once, briefly, it's a detailed self-portrait of an extraordinary woman.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 29, 2017

Cameraperson is haunted - as one senses Johnson may be - by the question of whether and how much documentary filmmakers should intervene in the lives of their subjects.

| Jan 27, 2017

Cameraperson's scrapbook of outtakes and downtime surpasses any of Johnson's greatest hits.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 27, 2017

Kirsten Johnson has created a resonant and revealing kaleidoscope of her life behind the camera on films from Bosnian war documentaries to the Edward Snowden film Citizenfour and even a portrait of the philosopher Jacques Derrida.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 27, 2017

Cameraperson is an absorbing, challenging creation.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 26, 2017

A thoughtful examination of the role of the documentary-maker.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 23, 2017

Put briefly, [Johnson] earns her juxtapositions of wildflowers and barbed wire.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 6, 2017

"Cameraperson" shows us the power of image as a tool of recording life, but also finds reasons that even in the worst situations, it's still worth living.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 5, 2017

Cameraperson draws our attention not just to what we're seeing, but to how we're seeing it. It encourages us to wonder how a camera operator negotiates personal space in tense, intimate, emotionally fraught situations.

| Dec 28, 2016

A labor of love of the highest order.

| Dec 28, 2016

Though much of the material in Cameraperson is old, Johnson has undeniably created something new.

| Original Score: A | Dec 28, 2016

Cameraperson is not merely a grab bag of images. It pulls double duty as a theoretical essay on the cinematic apparatus itself.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Dec 16, 2016

Cameraperson summons us to really think about a world that is more connected than we may realize.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Dec 15, 2016

Personal footage of Johnson's family and friends, woven into the documentary scenes, enhances the sense that any life is a series of amazements.

| Oct 20, 2016

"Cameraperson" testifies to a world in which it would be clear to see that we're all connected, if only we took the time to look at one another with reverence and simply listen.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 13, 2016

"Cameraperson" is a documentary unlike any other.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 28, 2016