--- title: James Wong Howe: Google Doodle Celebrates Cinematographer description: The two-time Oscar winner was a revered American cinematographer, but his Chinese heritage gave rise to obstacles as well. canonical: https://time.com/4917990/james-wong-howe-google-doodle/ author: Kevin Lui article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-28T03:24:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:46:51.868Z og:title: Google Doodle Celebrates Cinematographer James Wong Howe og:description: He was revered for his many innovations behind the camera. og:url: https://time.com/4917990/james-wong-howe-google-doodle/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5cb52c60f4ea2f55/6988db700b72e3d30f6ef2eb/james-wong-howes-118th-birthday-4706169112231936-2x.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: james-wong-howes-118th-birthday-4706169112231936-2x og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Google Doodle Celebrates Cinematographer James Wong Howe twitter:description: He was revered for his many innovations behind the camera. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5cb52c60f4ea2f55/6988db700b72e3d30f6ef2eb/james-wong-howes-118th-birthday-4706169112231936-2x.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A New Google Doodle Celebrates Chinese-American Cinematographer James Wong Howe ## Video: How Google Makes its Doodles [Watch (HLS stream): How Google Makes its Doodles](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/upF0qp1E.m3u8) (3:23)  _Published 2018-07-07. Our videographer went to the Googleplex in Mountain View, California to meet some of the designers and coders who create the special, clever variations on the Google.com logo known as_ by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Aug 28, 2017 3:24 AM UTC  Google by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Aug 28, 2017 3:24 AM UTC On Monday, Google [rolled out](https://www.google.com/doodles/james-wong-howes-118th-birthday) a monochrome Doodle to celebrate James Wong Howe, one of the most revered early-era cinematographers, on what would have been his 118th birthday. Howe’s first Hollywood job involved delivering films and cleaning up scraps left on the cutting room floor, according to Google. Before that, the Chinese-American had worked odd jobs, and even been a professional boxer in his teens. Later, he would come to be lauded professionally as a pioneer in cinematography, [from](https://www.google.com/doodles/james-wong-howes-118th-birthday) “accidentally discover\[ing\] how to use dark backdrops to create color nuances in black-and-white film” to “pioneer\[ing\] using wide-angle lenses, low key lighting, and color lighting.” He was also an early adopter of the crab dolly, a four-wheeled moving platform for cameras with a movable arm. But Howe faced obstacles in his personal life due to his heritage. For example, he could only become a U.S. citizen following the Chinese Exclusion Act’s repeal, and laws barring interracial marriages meant that his marriage to novelist Sanora Babb wasn’t legally recognized until 1949. Through his long career behind the camera, Howe received a total of ten Oscar nominations for best cinematography, winning twice in 1955 and 1963\. He died aged 76 in 1976. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4917990/james-wong-howe-google-doodle/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4917990/james-wong-howe-google-doodle/"},"headline":"A New Google Doodle Celebrates Chinese-American Cinematographer James Wong Howe","datePublished":"2017-08-28T03:24:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:46:51.868Z","description":"The two-time Oscar winner was best remembered for his innovations behind the camera","url":"https://time.com/4917990/james-wong-howe-google-doodle/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Google Doodle","cinema","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5cb52c60f4ea2f55/6988db700b72e3d30f6ef2eb/james-wong-howes-118th-birthday-4706169112231936-2x.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin Lui","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5cb52c60f4ea2f55/6988db700b72e3d30f6ef2eb/james-wong-howes-118th-birthday-4706169112231936-2x.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"james-wong-howes-118th-birthday-4706169112231936-2x","caption":"","creditText":"Google","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4917990/james-wong-howe-google-doodle/","name":"A New Google Doodle Celebrates Chinese-American Cinematographer James Wong Howe"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How Google Makes its Doodles","description":"Our videographer went to the Googleplex in Mountain View, California to meet some of the designers and coders who create the special, clever variations on the Google.com logo known as","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/upF0qp1E/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-07-07T16:09:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/upF0qp1E.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4917990/james-wong-howe-google-doodle/","duration":"PT3M23S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4917990/james-wong-howe-google-doodle/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```