SIR ROGER DEAKINS, CBE, ASC, BSC
Sir Roger Deakins is one of today’s most honored cinematographers, renown for his vast and varied body of work. He has been nominated for an Oscar 15 times and won the award twice for the films “BladeRunner 2049” and “1917”. He has been given 5 BAFTA awards and been nominated 10 times.
His other Oscar nominations are for: Denis Villeneuve’s “Prisoners”and “Sicaro”; The Coen Brothers’ “Fargo”, “The Man Who Wasn’t There”, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”, “No Country for Old Men” and “True Grit”; Frank Darabont’s “The Shawshank Redemption”; Martin Scorsese’s “Kundun”; Andrew Dominik’s “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; Stephen Daldry’s “The Reader; Sam Mendes’ “Skyfall; and Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken”.
Roger Deakins has been honored by his peers with sixteen American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Award nominations, winning five times, for “Shawshank Redemption,” “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” “Skyfall”, “Blade Runner 2049” and “1917”. He has also been recognized by his British peers with 11 British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) nominations and 7 wins. His myriad professional honors also two Independent Spirit Awards, numerous Critic’s awards and the National Board of Review’s Career Achievement Award. He has also received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the ASC, the BSC and National Board of Review.
In 2013, Roger Deakins was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), the only cinematographer ever bestowed with this high honor.
In 2021, Roger Deakins was given the honor of knighthood by the Queen of England, again being the only cinematographer ever bestowed with this high honor.
Roger was born in Torquay, Devon, England, attended art college and the National Film School, and began his career by working in the medium of still photography. He was given an assignment by the Beaford Art Center of documenting the disappearing way of life of the North Devon farmers and he spent a year doing this.
He went to film school after North Devon and his cinematic career began. Many of his first cinematographic projects were documentaries, often shooting in Africa. He also covered the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, which required him to work for more than nine months as a crew member while filming and directing the documentary. He then moved on to feature film cinematography, starting in England and later in the United States.
His numerous credits also include such diverse films as “Sid & Nancy,” “Barton Fink,” “The Hudsucker Proxy,” “Courage Under Fire,” “The Big Lebowski,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Doubt” and “Hail, Caesar!” He has also served as visual consultant for several animated features, including “WALL•E,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Rango,” “The Guardians” “The Croods” and “How to Train Your Dragon 2”, How to Train your Dragon 3” and the upcoming animated feature “Vivo”.
But his love of still photography continued and, over the years, he has managed to find time to wander with a stills camera. His work in films brings him to various locales which allows him new landscapes but he also retains his fascination with the English seaside. These photos are a personal pleasure to him which he has not shared with others up to this point.
In 2021, Damiani Books published a book of Roger’s still photograpy entitled “BYWAYS. The staggering response to the book has encouraged Roger to continue to indulge in his pleasure of the still image and take the time to wander with his still camera.