Craft Leaders: Roger Deakins, Cinematographer

It irritates Roger Deakins to be called an artist. Cinematographers do not create art, he says: “We are storytelling. I help directors to tell the story they want in visual imagery.”

It’s a typically no-nonsense and modest response from the Devonshire-born filmmaker who is nonetheless a master of his profession. Famously nominated for 14 Oscars (eventually landing one this year for Blade Runner 2049) and first choice collaborator for directors Sam Mendes, Denis Villeneuve and the Coen brothers, the sixty-eight-year-old member of the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) and its US counterpart is declared by former President of the ASC, Richard Crudo, “the pre-eminent cinematographer of our time.”

What stands out in a 46-year career spanning iconic films like Deadman Walking, The Shawshank Redemption, The Big Lebowski and Skyfall is Deakins’ grounding in the visual, rather than the technical aspects, of the role.

“I certainly think…