Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins on his rediscovered love of photography

Heading

As a new exhibition showcases a collection of images shot by the influential DoP over more than 50 years, he talks us through the salient moments of his career and what it took to get there

Legendary, Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins spent years wondering what to do with his photographs —“why take them if they are never seen?” — until the multiple Covid-induced lockdowns persuaded him to gather them into a book. “We were lucky to find in Damiani a publisher that was both enthusiastic and supportive,” Deakins tells Re-Edition of the publishing house behind BYWAYS: a thorough exploration of his love of still photography, spanning over five decades of artistic activity.

Launched in August 2021, the book, which is Deakins’ first monograph, comprises a collection of images emblematic of the Academy Award winner’s time off feature films. “I have always loved the process of interpreting what is around me in an image,” he says, explaining how, as a child and teenager, that brought him to experiment with painting — the first artistic medium he ever tried his hand at. Elaborating on the context in which the photographs featured in the volume were shot, he adds that still photography is something he pursues on the rare occasions when he has only himself “to answer to regarding both the choice of an image and the moment at which this one is taken”.

Homesick ghosts, New Mexico, 2018. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2018 Roger Deakins
Homesick ghosts, New Mexico, 2018. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2018 Roger Deakins

Weaving together a vast series of black and white shots lensed between 1969 and today, BYWAYS traces the evolution of Deakins’ unique gaze from his first photography assignment on behalf of North Devon’s Beaford Arts Centre to recently captured scenes reminiscent of a time already passed. “Perhaps it is the nostalgia for things that haven’t changed that draws me to them,” he confesses, talking about the vision uniting the photographs inhabiting the book. “Another connection might be simplicity,” adds Deakins, who argues that the same principle also informed his choice of sticking to monochromatic photography, thus following in the footsteps of pioneering image-makers including Bill Brandt, Edward Weston, Robert Capa, Alfred Steiglitz, Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, and Cartier Bresson.

Smoking Break, Germany, 2007. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2007 Roger Deakins
Smoking Break, Germany, 2007. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2007 Roger Deakins

Whether of the seaside and rural landscapes of Deakins’ English childhood or depicting the compelling views he encountered on his travels around the globe, the photographs contained in BYWAYS speak of a world filled with unexpected contradictions and his desire to immortalise them. “I love images both for what they can make me feel and the stories they can tell,” he says. As for the irony permeating his visual craft, the cinematographer recounts being drawn to situations that pose questions he can’t seem to find an answer to — “why is there a statue of Michelangelo’s David in a Dartmouth alleyway? — hence sparking his imagination. Speaking of his first monograph as a project reflecting “a different side” of his life, Deakins says he hopes “people will genuinely enjoy the images, regardless of who took them or why”.

On the occasion of Roger A. Deakins: BYWAYS, a new exhibition opening at Santa Monica’s Peter Fetterman Gallery on September 17, and featuring original photographs from the book along with previously unseen images, we speak with the groundbreaking British cinematographer to learn about the ins and outs of his passion for photography, what cinema has meant to him so far, and what still inspires him to keep on going.

Re-Edition: With 15 Academy Awards nominations, two Oscars, and five BAFTA Awards for Best Cinematography, you’re one of the most influential cinematographers of all time. What were the years that preceded your successful career like?

RD: I remember being confused and insecure as a boy. The few times I thought about the future I never saw one remotely similar to the way in which mine turned out. When at school, I spent long hours in the art department, and when not at school, I could be found down by the sea with a fishing rod. Often, I could be found there both before school and after school. Some nights I would sleep on the rocks and only briefly visit home for a wash and change of clothes before walking to school.

Caught in the Rain, Weston Super Mare, 2001. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2001 Roger Deakins
Caught in the Rain, Weston Super Mare, 2001. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2001 Roger Deakins

At eighteen, not knowing what I wanted to do with my life, but knowing very definitely what I didn’t want to do with my life, I applied to art college. This was as much a statement of rebellion against what was expected of me as it was my imagining that this would be a way to continue with my love of painting. It was only at art college that I discovered photography, and only at film school that I first handled a film camera. By the time I began to learn my craft I was 23 years old.

RE: What led you to approach the photographic medium?

RD: My mother was a fashion model and at the beginnings of a career as an actress before the war intervened. I only recently found out that she was driving a London ambulance during the blitz. She was in the Women’s Arm Core and my father was in the SAS. They met at a party in 1945 and made their home where my father grew up in Torquay. Sadly, my mother had MS and died when I was very young. Painting and drawing were ways for me to connect with her whilst she was bedridden.

The Shelter, Paignton, 2000. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2000 Roger Deakins
The Shelter, Paignton, 2000. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2000 Roger Deakins

I went to Art College thinking that I would paint but in four years I painted not a single picture. I had not been granted a place in the fine art department but one studying Graphic Design instead. I never had any intention to be a graphic designer, so I spent my days either in the printing department, wandering the countryside with my camera, or in the photographic darkroom. My final year exhibition consisted of photographs, etchings, and lithographs with little on show that could be termed ‘graphic design’.

Occasionally, Roger Mayne came in as a guest lecturer on photography. He quite bluntly told us that he couldn’t teach us photography since “how we captured the world around us” was our responsibility. I found that to be a completely honest and refreshing point of view. I was not only inspired by his personal work, which was some of the most innovative street photography of its time, but I also saw something of myself in Roger Mayne. He seemed like a very private person who had found a way of expressing himself in such a beautiful way.

Recruiting Booth, Devon County Show, Whipton, 1972. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 1972 Roger Deakins
Recruiting Booth, Devon County Show, Whipton, 1972. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 1972 Roger Deakins

RE: Can you share any insights into your first photography commission, which features among the images contained in BYWAYS?

RD: During my last year at Art College, I applied to the National Film School, but I doubt whether I was in the right state of mind at that time to make the most of the opportunity had I been accepted. I am incredibly grateful to Rosemary Ellis, principal of Bath Academy, who saw my passion for the photographic image rather than for Graphic Design and guided me to the Beaford Arts Centre.

My brief was to record the fast-disappearing rural way of life in North Devon. The world I was trying to capture there in the early 1970s was no doubt quite like the Devon of the post-war years. Little had changed at that time, which was the point of the assignment I was given.

The Dinosaur – Paignton, 2011. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2011 Roger Deakins
The Dinosaur – Paignton, 2011. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2011 Roger Deakins

As I quickly found out, it is not easy photographing people without gaining their trust beforehand, and doing so can take a while. By the end of nine months, I felt I had started to become part of the community, but it was then a little late to take full advantage of that.

Nonetheless, during that one year in North Devon I developed my passion for the photographic image so that, when I was finally accepted to the National Film School, I knew for certain that it was documentary filmmaking that I wanted to be involved in. I also knew that, to this point in my life, I had been wasting time and that now I was going to make the most of the opportunity that four years at the National Film School afforded me.

RE: With Radford’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), you became the first Western cinematographer to use the ‘bleach bypass’ film processing technique to retain the silver in the print. Through your work on the Coen brothers’ film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), you established yourself as the first cinematographer to have ever digitally colour-corrected a film in its entirety. You have re-adapted your style to match the artistic ideas of dozens of directors, but what are the key components of your work?

RD: I strive for naturalism and to create images that are immersive rather than ones that draw attention to themselves. In this, my use of camera movement can be quite minimal as can be my lighting. But every story is different as is every director. I don’t think I have a particular style, instead, it seems that I am starting from scratch every time I begin work on a film. A film is, of course, primarily a director’s vision but it is also moulded by the many creative department heads involved in it. Film is a collaborative process and being part of a collaborative team is something that I love about it.

Sheepdog and cow, Beaford, 1971. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 1971 Roger Deakins
Sheepdog and cow, Beaford, 1971. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 1971 Roger Deakins

Technology can be an aid as it can be a distraction. In the case of 1984, Mike and I used bleach bypass to desaturate the image and add contrast to simplify it, to remove distraction. In a similar way, the Coen Brothers and I chose to use a digital technique to simplify the images in O Brother Where Art Thou: it was our attempt to create the look of a simple hand-tinted picture book. Films can be immensely complex to make, requiring all sorts of innovative lighting and camera technologies to create the product envisioned but, in my mind, the result must look effortless, it must look simple.

RE: Before cutting your teeth on feature films, you worked on documentaries including Around the World with Ridgeway, a visual narration of a nine-month trip on a yacht as an entrant of the Whitbread Round the World Race; Zimbabwe, a clandestine documentation of the Rhodesian Bush War; and Eritrea – Behind Enemy Lines, which depicted the Eritrean War of Independence. You also shot anthropological documentaries in India and Sudan. What did you learn whilst working on these projects?

RD: I would not be the same had I not had those experiences shooting documentaries, neither as a person nor as an image maker. After film school, I was adrift without connections in the business and, as an ex-film student, faced some resentment from the established industry, so I took the offer of any work very seriously.

One early opportunity involved documenting life aboard a yacht in the Whitbread Around the World Race. Filming involved learning to sail, so as to be a fully qualified member of the crew, as well as being away from home for a year. I could see why this didn’t appeal to everyone but I saw it very differently.

The last couple on Earth – Melbourne, 2003. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2003 Roger Deakins
The last couple on Earth – Melbourne, 2003. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2003 Roger Deakins

Shooting documentaries was my dream and it gave me an opportunity to experience places that are not open to everyone. It left me with memories that I will never forget. Whether shooting a still frame or working with a film camera, the position you place yourself in and the choice of framing are key. That is equally true when shooting a feature film. My experience with a still camera and as a documentary film cameraman refined my eye and developed the relationship I have with a subject to this very day.

RE: Among some of your cinematic inspirations are masterpieces by Michelangelo Antonioni, Andrei Tarkovsky, Sergio Leone, Jean-Pierre Melville, Elem Klimov, and Andrey Zvyagintsev. What was the film that made you fall in love with cinematography?

RD: I couldn’t single out one film. When I was a teenager, I joined a local film society and, through that, I got to see a whole range of films such as Alphaville, The War Game, Last Year at Marienbad, L’Avventura, and many more but I never connected my love of those films with what I might do as a career. Such a possibility was a universe away from my life at that time. It was only very much later, when I was at the National Film School and I had the chance to shoot dramas for other students, that I realised that I might one day be involved in creating something equivalent. It was then that my role as a cinematographer seemed to just fall into place.

The boys’ night out, Barnstaple, 1971. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 1971 Roger Deakins
The boys’ night out, Barnstaple, 1971. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 1971 Roger Deakins

RE: What’s your advice for those wanting to get started in this field?

RD: I really believe that it is as much about life experience and one’s personal point of view on life as it is about technique. My advice? Just absorb all you can. Everything you see and experience impacts the way you might visualise a story or translate the scene that is happening in front of you. Whether the diversity of the natural world, paintings, or film, just absorb and take in all and everything you can.

RE: You’re one of the most prolific, awarded cinematographers of all time, yet the list of films you worked on appears to be bound to get longer and longer. What keeps you going?

RD: I really don’t think of myself as prolific, and I have little regard for awards. My real motivation comes from my own desire to “do better”. As Paul Newman put it in The Hustler — to paraphrase — “I want to show what the game is like when it is great. I don’t care, bricklaying can be great, if a guy knows”. I guess the difference is that I only want to prove it to myself, that I can do it, and that something looks great, and not to Minnesota Fats or the Academy. Why else am I doing it?

Roger A. Deakins: BYWAYS is opening at Santa Monica’s Peter Fetterman Gallery on September 17.

The Girl on the Swing, Teignmouth, 2004. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2004 Roger Deakins
The Girl on the Swing, Teignmouth, 2004. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2004 Roger Deakins
The Rail to Grants – New Mexico, 2014. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2014 Roger
The Rail to Grants – New Mexico, 2014. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2014 Roger
4:30 in Bebel, Berlin, 2007. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2007 Roger Deakins
4:30 in Bebel, Berlin, 2007. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2007 Roger Deakins
Longyearbyen after midnight – Svalbard 2011. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2011 Roger Deakins
Longyearbyen after midnight – Svalbard 2011. Courtesy of the artist and Damiani Editore. © 2011 Roger Deakins

Read Next
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms and Conditions