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Ulli Bonnekamp won the '2008 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography' for the 10-hr PBS Mini-Series "Carrier". This work illustrates his strength as a verite and handheld documentary DP: Exemplified by the homecoming scene of "USS Nimitz" airman Chris Altice to his pregnant girlfriend, Ulli adapts his skills in composition, lighting and camera movement to the mood of the scene, translating his intuitive understanding of the subjects' physical and emotional state into visual language.
Ulli has a broad range of professional experience: He has shot numerous TV commercials as well as dramatic shorts and features, earlier in 35 and Super16mm film, now in all professional digital formats. He is a long-time producer for Getty Images Film in New York, the world's largest stock agency. His documentary work ranges from WNET's Emmy Award winning "Broadway" series (2004) and its 'sequel' on American Comedy, "Make'm Laugh" (2009), to Sundance Channel's "Big Ideas for a Small Planet" (2007-2009). He worked on David Grubin's 2008 PBS series "The Jewish Americans", many assignments for the BBC and the long-running Discovery Channel show "Iconoclasts". His work can also be seen in the 2012 PBS film "Eames, the Architect and the Painter", which initially was released theatrically. Other clients include HBO, FOX, TBS and WGBH and he has credits on "Inconvenient Truth" and " Shut up and Sing" and the 8 hr PBS-series "Soundbreaking" which aired in Nov. 2016.
Expanding into the role of co-director/cameraman, in the early 2000's, Ulli has been working on a long-term documentary series on traditional African peace-building and community reconciliation, ecological restoration and reintegration of child soldiers in post civil war Liberia, West Africa. More recently he shot for Ken Burns' 2015 5-hr PBS Series "Cancer: Emperor of all Maladies" as well as the 2020 series "The Gene: An Intimate History". In early 2020 he traveled to Mongolia for an ongoing documentary on a traditional 'Nomadic Horseman' family, who is training their son for the country's world famous horse race. His most recent film "Stars in the Dark', created with director Brian Weidling and to premier in late 2026, is about the staging of the musical "The Braille Legacy" by the 'Theatre By The Blind', the only theatre group of its kind in the US.
Since late 2023 Ulli has also returned to his roots in still photography: For the ‘Mila’s Miracle Foundation’ under the title "This-is-Today" he has been documenting ‘a day in the lives’ of more than 10 families who have children affected by Batten’s disease, a rare and often fatal genetic disease.
Working in countries like Brazil, Greenland, Indonesia, Jamaica and across Africa and Europe has given Ulli a deep appreciation for diverse cultures. Born and raised in Germany, Ulli's passion for imagery began at age 11 with the family still camera. By his late teens he was a proficient and published still photographer. After attending college and several years practicing law and later international banking, he moved to New York. In 1989 Ulli was introduced to and mentored in documentary filmmaking. Rediscovering his love for creating images he became a cinematographer and now lives in Los Angeles.
