Roger A. Deakins: Byways
‘Byways’ is the first monograph by the legendary Oscar-winning cinematographer Sir Roger A Deakins, best known for his collaborations with directors such as the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes and Denis Villeneuve. ‘Byways’ includes previously unpublished black-and-white photographs spanning five decades, from 1971 to the present.
“My work as a cinematographer is a collaborative experience and, at least when a film is successful, the results are seen by a wide audience. On the other hand, I have rarely shared my personal photographs and never as a collection.” – Roger A Deakins
BYWAYS includes previously unpublished personal black-and-white stills that reflect a life spent looking and telling stories through images.
After graduating from college Deakins spent a year photographing life in rural North Devon, in South West England, on a commission for the Beaford Arts Centre; these images are gathered here for the first time and attest to a keenly ironic English sensibility, also documenting a vanished postwar Britain. A second suite of images expresses Deakins’ love of the seaside. Traveling for his cinematic work has allowed Deakins to photograph landscapes all over the world; in this third group of images, that same irony remains evident.
Although photography has remained one of Roger’s few hobbies, more often it is an excuse for him to spend hours just walking, his camera over his shoulder, with no particular purpose but to observe. Some of the images in this book, such as those from Rapa Nui, New Zealand and Australia, he took whilst traveling with James. Others are images that caught his eye as walked on a weekend, or catching the last of the light at the end of a day’s filming whilst working on projects in cities such as Berlin or Budapest, on Sicario in New Mexico, Skyfall in Scotland and in England in 1917.
About the Author
Roger Deakins was born in Torquay, Devon, England. He attended art college and the National Film School. He started in documentaries, shooting many in Africa as well as covering the Whitbread Round the World Yacht race that required him to work for more than 9 months as a crew member while filming a documentary.
Roger then went on to feature cinematography, starting in England and then later shooting in the United States. His primary hobbies are taking still photographs and fishing. Before he entered the National Film School, he spent a year in North Devon, England, using his still camera to document the way of life on the farms and in the villages. This cemented his passion for still photography that continues to this day.
On the rare days that he is not in his boat, fishing, while in Devon, he enjoys traveling to various places to augment his growing series of images.
