Raised by relatives in Stockholm and rarely saw his missionary parents until he was 13 years old

Parents returned to Sweden

Saved money delivering newspapers to purchase a Keystone 8mm film camera with slow motion; used camera to film athletes during competition

Began career as a focus puller at Sandrews studios, progressing to camera assistant

Shared cinematography duties on "I morkaste Smaland"

Worked as camera assistant and interpreter for directors Mario Soldati and Franco Vigni in Cinecitta, Rome

First film as director of photography, "13 Chairs"

Directed "Reverence for Life", a documentary about Albert Schweitzer

Co-directed and co-wrote (as well as sharing cinematography duties) "Under the Southern Cross", a narrative film produced in the Belgian Congo and based on an experience his parents had with a witch doctor

First worked with Ingmar Bergman filming the interior scenes of "Sawdust and Tinsel"

Co-directed, with Lars Henrik Ottoson, the feature film "Gorilla"

First full collaboration with Bergman, "The Virgin Spring"; would succeed Gunnar Fischer as Bergman's regular cinematographer

Earliest US work, handling the cinematography on the US-Swedish co-production "A Matter of Morals", directed by John Cromwell

First time shooting in color for Bergman, "All These Women"

First solo directorial feature, "The Vine Bridge"; also photographed

Provided dazzling, on-location shooting for Conrad Rooks' film version of "Siddhartha"

Worked with Bergman on the Swedish TV miniseries, "Scenes from a Marriage", eventually blown up from 16mm to 35mm for abridged 1974 feature release

Received first Oscar for cinematography on Bergman's "Cries and Whispers" (released in 1972)

Helmed "The Vocation", a documentary about his father's work in the Congo

Served as director of photography on Louis Malle's "Black Moon"

Reteamed with Malle on "Pretty Baby"

Co-directed (with Bergman regular Erland Josephson), "One and One"; also co-produced with Josephson and handled the camera work

First collaboration with director Alan J Pakula, "Starting Over"

Reteamed with Josephson as co-directors and co-producers of "Marmeladupproret"; also served as director of photography

Earned second Oscar for Bergman's "Fanny and Alexander" (released in 1982)

Last collaboration with Bergman as director, "After the Rehearsal"

Teamed with director Norman Jewison on "Agnes of God"

Honored at Cannes for the cinematography of Andrei Tarkovsky's last film, "The Sacrifice"

Reteamed with Pakula for "Dream Lover"

First American TV-movie, "Nobody's Child" (CBS), directed by Lee Grant

Garnered Oscar nomination for cinematography for Philip Kaufman's "The Incredible Lightness of Being", adapted from the novel by Milan Kundera

Initial collaboration as director of photography with director Woody Allen, the Bergmanesque "Another Woman"

Reteamed with Allen for the "Oedipus Wrecks" segment of "New York Stories" and the feature "Crimes and Misdemeanors"

Served on the jury of the 43rd Cannes Film Festival

Resumed his association with Bergman on "Best Intentions", directed by Billie August from Bergman's screenplay

Earned critical acclaim for helming "The Ox" (which he also co-scripted), a compelling chronicle of a desperately poor family's struggle to survive in famine-ravaged Sweden during the mid-1800s; film received a Best Foreign-Language Film Academy Award nomination

First film with director Lasse Hallstrom, "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"

Reteamed with Jewison on "Only You"

Second collaboration with Hallstrom, "Something to Talk About"

First film with Liv Ullmann as a director, "Kristin Lavransdatter"; Ullmann also scripted

Reteamed with Ullman for "Private Confessions", working from a Bergman screenplay

Worked as director of photography on Allen's "Celebrity"; diagnosed with an ailment that impeded his speech, retired after production was completed; fourth collaboration with Allen

Profiled in the documentary "Light Keeps Me Company", directed and produced by his son Carl-Gustav Nykvist; shared cinematography credit with son and others; though unable to work as a cinematographer for hire, the picture showed him still loading his Arriflex camera, still reveling in the light