Jim Frazier

Who is Jim Frazier?

Jim Frazier is an Australian inventor, naturalist and cinematographer who invented the Frazier lens. He has won many Australian and international awards for his work, including an Academy Award for Technical Achievement and an Emmy Award. He is well known for filming documentaries for David Attenborough together with his long-time collaborator Australian naturalist, photographer and writer Densey Clyne.

Clyne and Frazier formed a partnership known as Mantis Wildlife Films and their work including Webs of Intrigue, has won numerous international awards. David Attenborough asked the pair to work on his series Life on Earth and The Living Planet. Frazier and Clyne contributed 55 minutes of footage to Life on Earth.

Jim's career as a wildlife cinematographer has been spread over more than 40 years, with an Emmy, 3 Golden Tripods, a US Industrial Film & Video Gold Camera Award, an Honorary Doctorate and over 40 national and international awards for his work that include the acclaimed Cane Toads: An Unnatural History.

He was winner of a Technical Oscar in 1997 for his invention of the Frazier lens System, which has revolutionised the international film industry, an ingenious lens that provides an extended depth of field and an ability to have both the foreground and background in focus. The lens has been used by leading filmmakers including Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and in television commercials. In October 1998, Jim was presented with the John Grierson International Gold Medal for pioneering work in micro/macro cinematography of invertebrate animals leading to the design of the Frazier lens System.