Roger Deakins

Roger Deakins
Deakins at the 83rd Academy Awards in February 2011.
Born	Roger Alexander Deakins (1949-05-24) 24 May 1949 (age 67) Torquay, Devon, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Other names	Roger A. Deakins, Matt Campbell
Occupation	Cinematographer
Years active	1984–present
Spouse(s)	Isabella James Purefoy Ellis (m. 1991)

Roger Alexander Deakins, CBE, ASC, BSC (born May 24, 1949) is an English cinematographer best known for his work on the films of the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes, and Denis Villeneuve. Deakins is a member of both the American and British Society of Cinematographers. He received the 2011 American Society of Cinematographers (A.S.C.) Lifetime Achievement Award. Deakins has received thirteen nominations for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

Deakins was born in Torquay in the English county of Devon, the son of Josephine (née Messum), an actress, and William Albert Deakins, a builder. He attended Torquay Boys' Grammar School. While growing up in Torquay, Deakins spent most of his time in and out of school focusing on his primary interest: painting. Several years later he enrolled in the Bath School of Art and Design (in the city of Bath) where he studied graphic design. While studying in Bath, he discovered his love of photography. He proved to be a very talented photographer, and this led to his being hired to create a photographic documentary of his home town, Torquay. About a year later, Deakins transferred to the National Film and Television School in Buckinghamshire.

Shortly after graduating, Deakins found work as a cameraman, assisting in the production of documentaries in various locations abroad for approximately seven years. During this seven-year stint, his first project involved a nine-month trip as one of the entrants of a 'round-the-world yacht race called Around the World with Ridgeway. This project captured the lives and growing tensions between several of the yacht's crewmen. Deakins received high praise for his work out at sea showing the parallels between these teammates and shipmates. After completing Around the World with Ridgeway, Deakins was immediately hired by television studios to film several documentaries in Africa. His first, Zimbabwe, was a powerful and informative depiction of the genocide that had been going on there, following Zimbabwe's devastating civil war. His second, Eritrea – Behind Enemy Lines, was another depiction of conflict, this time within the borders of Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti.