BYWAYS. Photographs by Roger A Deakins

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The acclaimed cinematographer joins the show to talk about his extensive career and when he first got behind the camera. He's won two Academy Awards for best cinematography and is nominated for a third for his work on the war drama 1917. After I discovered a love for a photographic image, it seemed natural to explore whether documentary filmmaking might be another avenue of exploration,” remembers Deakins. Embedded throughout Byways , published this month by Damiani, are many of the Deakins hallmarks made famous by his lens work for directors like Sam Mendes and the Coen brothers, and in such acclaimed films as The Shawshank Redemption and Blade Runner 2049.

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.It's a weekly show he does with his wife James about cinematography, the film business and whatever other questions listeners submit to the show.

Deakins spoke to IndieWire about his photography in an interview published below, lightly edited for length and clarity. Deakins’ other current project is the latest in his long collaboration with Mendes, “Empire of Light.

The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. I study the work of other cinematographers, of course, but there’s something unique about a still image that speaks to me more than any other visual language. After graduating from college, Roger spent a year photographing life in rural North Devon on a commission for the Beaford Arts Centre; these images attest to a keenly ironic English sensibility, and also serve as a record of a time and place of vanished post-war Britain. It may be the purest distillation of Deakins’s vision—stark, plaintive, reverent of land and light—we ever get. She’s a News Editor at Collider, as well as a Rotten Tomatoes and The Cherry Picks approved critic, who specializes in feminist media and writing on out-of-this-world titles like Good Omens, Doctor Who, Top Gun: Maverick, and Willow.

It has to be something that grabs me, and then obviously you have to be able to get it at that moment.

It’s a question I’ve asked many photographers in interviews like this one: ‘How has film informed your pictures? Nominated for an Oscar 15 times, he has won the award twice for the films Blade Runner 2049 (2007) and 1917 (2019).