“You have to understand what your subject needs,” she said. “It comes down to really listening, to hear what they say and don’t say, to listen to the quiet, and respond to that.”

Kilbourn will be at the Lake Placid Film Festival from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1 at the High Peaks Resort, giving a workshop on cinematography. Alongside Anthony Pierce Clark, John Maher and Justyn T. Davis, Kilbourn’s contribution to the festival is part of an effort to encourage local work in the film industry, a project led by Gary Smith, chair of the Lake Placid Film Festival.

–

Observer’s Paradox

–

Cinematography is the art of making motion pictures. The work involves artistic elements such as framing, composition and camera angles, as well as technical components such as lens choices, exposure and camera selection. Or, as Kilbourn concisely put it, “Good cinematography is about knowing when to shoot and when not to shoot.”

Kilbourn has thought deeply about when not to shoot and discussed the ethics of cinematography as a type of observer’s paradox. For documentary cinematographers, the paradox presents itself in the form of a question: Is it possible to film the natural behaviour of a subject when the act of filming changes the behavior of the subject? Kilbourn’s response is not so much an answer as it is a value. Respect your subject, she said.

“The paradox is a concept that more filmmakers need to think about,” Kilbourn said. “You must be willing to accept that your presence is making a difference, and you should want to minimize the difference. You’re in the space of your subject, impacting it, taking something from it. I don’t take that lightly at all, and I think if you’re not taking responsibility for that, then you’re not being true to the people you’re filming.”

–

Women behind the lens

–

Like many fields in the film industry, cinematography is a male-dominated profession. According to Kilbourn, a woman will have to prove her credibility again and again while a man will quickly build a reputation; a woman who makes a mistake will be seen to represent the failure of her entire gender while a man who makes a mistake will be given the benefit of the doubt; a woman who is good at her job will be encouraged to stay in her position while a man who is good at his job will be encouraged to move up.

“This is societal and not specific to the film industry,” she said.

The underrepresentation of women in the film trade is unmistakably outlined in the research by Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, founder of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. In her pioneering study called “The Celluloid Ceiling,” Dr. Lauzen tracked the employment of women in film from 2012 to today. In her 2025 report on the 250 top-grossing films, Dr. Lauzen wrote that women accounted for 16% of all directors, 20% of all writers, and 12% of all cinematographers.

The good news is that the film landscape has diversified, a welcome change that no doubt owes a debt of gratitude to trailblazers such as Kilbourn.

“When I was coming up, there were very few women cinematographers,” Kilbourn said. “Now there are many more women who are breaking into the industry.”

The improvement is traceable in Dr. Lauzen’s expansive study. Indeed, in 2012, women accounted for 9% of all directors, 15% of all writers, and 2% of all cinematographers working on the top 250 grossing films. As the ongoing research implies, the task of building an equitable world takes time, but Kilbourn said she remains optimistic.

“Progress is not an insurmountable task,” Kilbourn said. “It’s something to navigate with care and respect, and with an effort to deal with each person as a person.”

–

How to say good-bye

–

Kilbourn will regularly spend months filming a documentary subject. She will follow them day and night, in their best and worst moments, in the air, submerged in water, and 700 feet underground. Camera in hand, Kilbourn listens to the quiet, films the gaps. With such personal intimacy, that degree of immersion and careful documentation, genuine care and attachment, how does a cinematographer put down her camera, walk away from a subject, and say goodbye?

Kilbourn was characteristically thoughtful about completing her projects and described the experience as a type of continuum.

“I won’t ever forget them,” she said. “I think of my relationship to the subjects as a sustaining connection, and that’s not something that is final.”

As Kilbourn revealed, however, saying good-bye is nevertheless hard.

“On a documentary film where it’s real people, where I get to be a part of their life and they’re part of mine, I do miss them,” she said. “It’s an incredible gift to experience all these lives that I would otherwise never get to experience. I love it. But it is hard.”

Sustenance, care, respect, quiet — these are but a few of Kilbourn’s principles as a cinematographer, and they have served her well. Kilbourn has a successful, award-winning career, and, despite working in the business for over thirty years, continues to speak about her work with awe.

“I see things all the time where I think, this is such a privilege to be here right now, to see what I’m seeing, and to get to show this to other people,” she said. “It’s what I sometimes call zen moments — the event of me and the subjects and the camera all at the right place at the right time. It’s magic.”

–

Learn more

–

Learn more about the Lake Placid Film Festival — which will be held from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2 — at www.adirondackfilm.org.