Jomo Fray

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Jomo Fray is a cinematographer and DP with experience in short film, independents and features, commercials, as well as television. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, and currently residing in Brooklyn, NY, Fray often returns to work with directors on multiple projects, such as Raven Jackson and Tayarisha Poe. Collaboration guides much of Fray’s practice, allowing his crew to adapt and respond as they feel through the scene. Like with focus puller, Kali Riley, on the set of RaMell Ross’s Nickel Boys, Fray did not give her marks to hit, instead telling her trust her feelings as she guided the camera’s focus.[1] This care and trust is part of why Fray’s work is known for its radical empathy, of bringing the camera into a delicate intimacy with the characters, their stories, and their worlds.

Prior to entering Brown University for undergraduate work, Fray fell in love with the work of Christopher Doyle, the cinematographer for In The Mood for Love (2000). Though the young artist took film classes at WCCA TV and attended film camps in high school, Brown University is where he momentarily took a different path, majoring in political theory and Africana studies. In an interview with his hometown paper, he cites stories as his end goal: “political theory, race stories. Studying theory and philosophy helped me think about different ways of thinking about a story.”[2] He continued his exploration in philosophy and photography at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, notably winning a KODAK Vision Award in 2016 for his work on fellow graduate student Haley Anderson’s short film Get Out Fast (2017).

His next films, debuting at various festivals including Sundance, Cannes, Tribeca, TIFF, and SXSW, focused on marginalized characters, often wrangling with the concept of identity and self. After working with Raven Jackson on her short Nettles (2018), he returned to work with her on her feature debut, All Dirk Roads Taste of Salt (2023). Fray worked on Terence Nance’s Random Acts of Flyness (2018), and a few years later, on Barry Jenkins’s miniseries The Underground Railroad (2021), an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel by the same name. Before the end of 2021, Fray would work with collective Ummah Chroma (Terence Nance, Jenn Nkiru, Marc Thomas, Kamasi Washington, and Bradford Young) and production designer Akin McKenzie on Killing in Thy Name, a short film for alternative rock group Rage Against the Machine.

Most recently, Fray served as cinematographer for RaMell Ross’s Oscar-nominated Nickel Boys (2024). Adapted from Whitehead’s 2019 novel The Nickel Boys, the film includes an array of technical and logistical feats to create what Fray calls “a sentient image”—neither a distant third person nor a traditional first person point-of-view, but “an image that felt connected to a real body, a real body that had real stakes, and a body who was navigating a community in a system that was naturally hostile to their existence.”[3] For his work, Fray won the 2025 Film Independent Changemaker, Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography, ASC Spotlight Award, and the award for Best Cinematographer from the New York Film Critics Circle.

[1] Nick Newman, “‘Look at the Cinema’: Nickel Boys Cinematographer Jomo Fray on First-Person Filmmaking and the Opulence of Mundanity,” The Film Stage (December 12, 2024).

[2] Richard Duckett, “Man behind the picture,” Worcester Telegram (September 9, 2016).

[3] Joenique C. Rose, “Detail Oriented: ‘Nickel Boys’ DP Jomo Fray on Emotion Informing Images & His Time with Project Involve,” Film Independent (November 11, 2024).

SELECTED WORKS

Cinematographer

Butterfly Jam (2026), dir. Kantemir Balagov

Nickel Boys (2024), dir. RaMell Ross

Clodagh (2024), dir. Portia A. Buckley

The Young Wife (2023), dir. Tayarisha Poe

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (2023), dir. Raven Jackson

Runner (2022), dir. Marian Mathias

The Underground Railroad (2021), dir. Barry Jenkins

No Future (2021), dir. Mark Smooth and Andy Irvine

Killing In Thy Name (2021), dir. The Ummah Chroma

Bob Marley: No Woman, No Cry (2020), dir. Kristian Mercado

Port Authority (2019), dir. Danielle Lessovitz

Boone (2019), dir. Joao Prado

Selah and The Spades (2019), dir. Tayarisha Poe

Random Acts of Flyness (2018), dir. Terence Nance

195 Lewis (2018), creator Rae Leone Allen

Third Trinity (2018), dir. Yara Travieso

Untitled Short Film About White People (2018), dir. Nicholas Colia

Low Tide (2018), dir. Joseph Sackett

I Was in Your Blood (2018), dir. Joseph Sackett

In Defense of Wonder (2018), dir. Francesca Mirabella

Kylie (2018), dir. Jordan Nikolic

Nettles (2018), dir. Raven Jackson

Emergency (2018), dir. Carey Williams

Houseplants (2017), dir. Prashanth Kamalakanthan

It’s Alright Kid (2017), dir. Samuel Grandchamp

Radiator (2017), dir. Portia A. Buckley

Give Up The Ghost (2017), dir. Marian Mathia

Pregnant (2017), dir. Joseph Sackett

Modern Love (2017), dir. Francesca Mirabella

Get Out Fast (2017), dir. Haley Anderson

Briefcase (2016), dir. Joseph Sackett

Haunt (2016), dir. Lilian Mehrel

Kenda (2016), dir. Sahadev Kelvadi

The Shvitzing (2016), dir. Max Rissman

Heaven, Here I Come (2015), dir. Joseph Sackett

Pixie Dust (2015), dir. Damon Colquhoun

Playing Hooky (2015), dir. Inés Gowland

Anonymous (2014), dir. Reinaldo Marcus Green

SELECTED INTERVIEWS

Encinias, Joshua. “How Jomo Fray Captured The Soul of ‘Nickel Boys.’” BKMAG, January 20, 2025. https://www.bkmag.com/2025/01/20/jomo-fray-nickel-boys-cinematographer-interview/

ShotDeck. “NICKEL BOYS | DP Jomo Fray | ShotDeck: Shot Talk.” YouTube, January 3, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smXgooF0rLw

Newman, Nick. “‘Look at the Cinema’: Nickel Boys Cinematographer Jomo Fray on First-Person Filmmaking and the Opulence of Mundanity.” The Film Stage, December 12, 2024. https://thefilmstage.com/look-at-the-cinema-nickel-boys-cinematographer-jomo-fray-on-first-person-filmmaking-and-the-opulence-of-mundanity/

Rose, Joenique C. “Interview: Jomo Fray, ‘Nickel Boys’ Cinematographer Pt.2: Creating the POV Style. ” Film Independent, November 27, 2024. https://www.filmindependent.org/blog/interview-jomo-fray-nickel-boys-cinematographer-pt-2-creating-the-pov-style/

Rose, Joenique C. “Detail Oriented: ‘Nickel Boys’ DP Jomo Fray on Emotion Informing Images & His Time with Project Involve.” Film Independent, November 11, 2024. https://www.filmindependent.org/blog/detail-oriented-nickel-boys-dp-jomo-fray-on-emotion-informing-images-his-time-with-project-involve/

Saito, Stephen. "Indie Memphis Film Fest 2023 Interview: Cinematographer Jomo Fray on ‘All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.’". The Moveable Fest,. November 3, 2023. https://moveablefest.com/jomo-fray-all-dirt-roads-taste-of-salt/

PanaVision. “Jomo Fray’s cinematography for Nickel Boys.” https://www.panavision.com/highlights/highlights-detail/jomo-fray-s-cinematography-for-nickel-boys

Bale, Miriam. “Interview: Raven Jackson and Jomo Fray on All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt.” Film Comment, October 6, 2023. https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/interview-raven-jackson-and-jomo-fray-on-all-dirt-roads-taste-of-salt-nyff61/

LiteGear. “A Discussion with Cinematographer Jomo Fray.” Lite Gear. February 25, 2021. https://www.litegear.com/2021/02/25/a-discussion-with-cinematographer-jomo-fray/

ARRI Rental. “The Martini | Episode #109 with Jomo Fray.“. YouTube,. Ocobert 16, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?ab_channel=ARRIRental&v=2651RkMW22s

Tangcay, Jazz. “’Selah and the Spades’ Cinematographer Explains how Rihanna’s ‘Anti’ Inspired the Film’s Look.” Variety, April 17, 2020. https://variety.com/2020/artisans/production/selah-and-the-spades-rihanna-anti-1234581767/

ARRIChannel. “ARRI Interview on ‘Selah and the Spades’ at Sundance 2019.” YouTube,. Julu 29, 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLi2NASKpwQ

Filmmaker Staff. “DP Jomo Fray on Selah and the Spades and Drawing Inspiration From Rihanna’s ANTI.” Filmmaker, February 4, 2019. https://filmmakermagazine.com/106995-dp-jomo-fray-on-selah-and-the-spades-and-drawing-inspiration-from-rihannas-anti/#.XFr34c9KjOR

Baker, Eric. “Why You Should Get Involved With Your Colorist as Soon as Possible.” No Film School, January 25, 2018. https://nofilmschool.com/2018/01/sundance-colorist-short-film-special-jury-award-emergency

Filmmaker Staff. "Jomo Fray.". Filmmaker Magazine, 2018. https://filmmakermagazine.com/people/jomo-fray/

Shadow and Act Staff. “Award-winning cinematographer Jomo Fray on the future of virtual reality and the short film, 'haunt.'” Blavity, October 9, 2017. https://blavity.com/entertainment/award-winning-cinematographer-jomo-fray-on-the-future-of-virtual-reality-and-the-short-film-haunt

Duckett, Richard. “Man behind the picture.” Telegram & Gazette., September 4, 2016. https://www.telegram.com/story/entertainment/local/2016/09/04/worcester-native-wins-cinematography-award/25515999007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z117901v117901d--88--b--88--&gca-ft=215&gca-ds=sophi

Research and writing by Jeffrey Peterson with assistance and editing by Dr. Daren Fowler