“Capturing the big and the small moments of the amazing world we live in feeds my passion for the art of cinematography. Equally important is that I bear witness to and document the unique stories that unfold before my eyes in a way that dismantles barriers, opens doors, and reveals truth. I believe that filming intuitively, honestly and without inhibition is a journey that requires a compassionate heart and the ability to see and hear what lies beneath the surface.” ‑‑Claudia Raschke, ASC
Claudia Raschke was born in Hamburg, one of the largest European ports near the Baltic Sea in Northern Germany. Throughout her childhood the chain of movie theaters owned by her mother brought Claudia into the world of film. After college Claudia studied the art and technique of cinematography on the practical level while working with some of the most prominent and accomplished international filmmakers. Today she is a founding member of the NYC Kamera Kollektiv, a boutique agency for documentary and feature film cinematographers, a member of AMPAS and CANON EXPLORER OF LIGHT artist.
Claudia is a world renown cinematographer, best known for her ability to bring rich tones of the motion picture to a diverse spectrum of films, from purely commercial ventures, through feature-length documentaries, to lower-budget works of art.
Among her many notable award-winning films are: Oscar-nominated and Emmy winning RBG, Oscar-nominated GOD IS THE BIGGER ELVIS, Oscar shot-listed JULIA and MAD HOT BALLROOM, Critics Choice nominated FAUCI and HOUSE OF HAMMER, Peabody winning and NAACP Image Award nominated MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY, and Oscar short-listed and Emmy winning BOYS STATE.
Her most recently released feature documentaries are YOURS IN FREEDOM, BILL BAIRD and the dance biography film of Loie Fuller titled OBSESSED WITH LIGHT. Currently Claudia is in production of an eight-part documentary series for the History channel to be released Spring of 2025.
“Claudia is not only one of the great cinematographers, she is a natural born teacher. She doesn’t lecture, she engages emerging filmmakers with a series of exercises that are guaranteed to up the game of everyone from beginners to the most advanced shooters. Her workshop for my documentary students at Columbia Journalism School was always a class favorite.”