Adam Holender, ASC (born 13 November 1937) is a Polish-American cinematographer and film director.
He was born 13 November 1937 in Kraków, Poland, the son of a judge. In 1940, he and his family were deported to a Siberian labor camp, and not allowed to return to Kraków until 1947.
Holender studied architecture before enrolling at à Âódà º Film School, from where he graduated in 1964.
Holender worked on short films by Krzysztof Zanussi and Roman Polaà Âski, and in the camera department of several Polish films and television series, notably Four Tank-Men and a Dog.
He moved to New York City in the 1960s, working as a truck driver and later finding a job as a grip at a commercial production company, later shooting documentaries for the BBC and CBS.
Midnight Cowboy was Holender's first feature film cinematography assignment: he was recommended to director John Schlesinger by Holender's friend Polanski. Holender later recalled:
<blockquote>Schlesinger turned out to be a great director to work with. (...) He likes the dirt of New York life, I took him on his first subway trip, we wandered around the streets and observed reality. I knew we were making a good film, but that it was going to be an Oscar-winning film, I had no idea.</blockquote>
According to Schlesinger, his inspiration to make the movie came from the 1967 Yugoslav film When I Am Dead and Gone by a Serbian director à ½ivojin PavloviÃÂ.
At the 2007 Camerimage Festival in Toruà Â, Holender received a special award "to the Polish Cinematographer For Immense Contribution To The Art of Film".