DHAKA: Gordon Willis, the cinematographer on films including the Godfather trilogy, has died at the age of 82.

Willis received an honorary lifetime achievement Oscar in 2010 and was nominated for his work on Woody Allen’s Zelig and The Godfather: Part III.

‘This is a momentous loss,’ the president of the American Society of Cinematographers, Richard Crudo, told Deadline Hollywood, reports the BBC.

‘He was one of the giants who changed the way movies looked,’ he added.

Willis was known in the industry as ‘the prince of darkness’, due to his unique lighting technique which created lots of shadows.

He was renowned for his striking imagery in films such as Allen’s ‘Manhattan’ - he made eight films with the director - and ‘All the President’s Men’.

He was also the cinematographer on Alan J. Pakula’s Klute, for which Jane Fonda won her first Oscar.

Willis worked on several other Pakula thrillers including The Devil’s Own, his final film in 1997, which was also Pakula’s last directorial outing.

US author Bret Easton Ellis tweeted, ‘America’s greatest cinematographer GORDON WILLIS: RIP.’

Chris McQuarrie, who won best screenplay for ‘The Usual Suspects’, also paid tribute, ‘No one showed more with less’.

BDST: 1712 HRS, MAY 19, 2014