Tributes are flowing for celebrated Australian cinematographer Andrew Lesnie ACS, who has passed away at the age of 59.
Reports surfaced Tuesday afternoon that Lesnie, an Oscar-winner and frequent collaborator of Peter Jackson, suffered a heart attack on Monday.
A spokesman from the Australian Cinematographers Society confirmed the news, and stated that the Lesnie family would provide an official statement later.
Lesnie recently shot Russell Crowe's directorial debut, The Water Diviner (pictured: Lesnie and Crowe on set. Credit: Mark Rogers).
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Actor/director Crowe was one of many who took to Twitter to mourn Lesnie's passing:
Lesnie won his Oscar for The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and joked, ""I wouldn't recommend that anyone do a trilogy". He continued his association with Peter Jackson on The Lovely Bones, and The Hobbit movies (another trilogy).
He divided his time between epic projects and small Australian character dramas, as was the case in 2014, when his cinematography credits included Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Healing.
Lesnie's Australian film credits include Chris Noonan's Babe and its sequel, George Miller's Babe: Pig In The City. The star of both films, Magda Szubanski, also took to Twitter with a personal tribute.
Lesnie also shot Rachel Perkins' vibrant outback musical Bran Nue Dae.
