DEAKINS INTERVIEW
Sir Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC reflects on his extraordinary 50-year career, from early documentaries to some of the most acclaimed films ever made “You can’t really put your finger on great cinematography. It creates a world you are suddenly immersed in and emotionally moved by”
WORDS OLIVER WEBB
F rom Skyfall to Fargo , Sicario to The Shawshank Redemption , The Big Lebowski to Sid and Nancy , chances are you’ve seen a film lensed by Roger Deakins. With a career spanning 50 years, Deakins boasts an extraordinary, genre-spanning body of work, collaborating with acclaimed directors including Martin Scorsese, Denis Villeneuve, Agnieszka Holland, Sam Mendes, Norman Jewison and the Coen brothers. He has been nominated for an incredible 16 Academy Awards for best cinematography, winning twice for Blade Runner 2049 and 1917 . Ever since his last nomination for Empire of Light in 2023, he has co-hosted the podcast Team Deakins with his wife
and long-term collaborator, James. And, in November 2025, he released Reflections: On Cinematography , which acts both as a memoir and a practical guide to the craft. TORQUAY BEGINNINGS Despite his now-evident eye for an iconic image, Deakins did not initially set out to pursue a career in filmmaking. “It just sort of evolved,” he begins. “I didn’t want a nine-to-five job and so I was just looking for something else really. I went to art college, which itself was an excuse not to get a job in Torquay! And then I found photography through Roger Mayne – the great street photographer.”
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