Pietkiewicz was praised for his work on Theja Rio's Angh, which is to have its world premiere at the festival.
Shot on 16mm, the film takes place in the Indo-Burma border area.
According to the festival's website, Pietkiewicz was recognized "for crafting never-before-seen images from one of the world's most remote regions."
Pietkiewicz wrote on social media: "Receiving the TIFF Variety Artisan Award is an incredible honour, especially for a film like Angh, which is so rooted in its sense of place, memory, and culture."
"Cinematography, for me, is always about finding a visual language that serves the story, and shooting Angh on 16mm allowed us to create a texture that felt right for the world we were creating," he said.
Pietkiewicz is a graduate of the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School in Katowice, southern Poland, and of the National Film and Television School in London, his current place of residence.
Past recipients of the TIFF Variety Artisan Award include fellow Polish cinematographer Łukasz Żal, who received the honour in 2023.
The 51st Toronto International Film Festival opens on September 10.
(mk/ał)