Seamus McGarvey (born 29 June 1967) is an Irish cinematographer.
He has received two Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography, for Joe Wright's Atonement and Anna Karenina.
Career He began his career as a still photographer, before attending film school at the University of Westminster in London.
After graduating in 1988, he began shooting short films and documentary films, including Skin, directed by Vincent O'Connell, and Atlantic, directed by Sam Taylor-Wood.
He served as cinematographer on the pilot for the TV series The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, directed by Anthony Minghella.
His documentary work includes Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home, which followed his work on Wright's The Soloist, and filmed in the same locales; Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction; Rolling Stones: Tip of the Tongue; and The Name of This Film Is Dogme95.
Supplementing his work on features and TV movies, McGarvey has photographed and directed over 100 music videos for various artists, including Coldplay, Paul McCartney, Dusty Springfield, The Rolling Stones, U2, and Robbie Williams.
In 2015, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Dundee University and an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of Ulster. He is an Honorary Fellow of Edinburgh College of Art. He is featured in the book In Conversation with Cinematographers by David A. Ellis and in the book Ballinger, Alexander; New Cinematographers (2004) .
Personal life He is married to Lorna Tucker, and they live in London. He has three children, Stella McGarvey, Sam McGarvey and Ossian McGarvey Arenlind.
Filmography Short film Year Title Director Notes1995 Hello, Hello, Hello David Thewlis Skin Vincent O'Connell 1997 Magic Moments Saul Metzstein1998 Flying Saucer Rock'n'Roll Enda Hughes The End Joe Wright 2006 Death ValleySam Taylor-Johnson Segment of Destricted 2008 Love You More 2011 James Bond Supports International Women's Day 2016 Kitty Chloë Sevigny
Feature film Year Title Director Notes 1995 Butterfly Kiss Michael Winterbottom1997 Harald Jürgen Egger Jump the Gun Les Blair The Winter Guest Alan Rickman The Slab Boys John Byrne1999 The War Zone Tim Roth I Could Read the Sky Nichola Bruce With Owen McPolin A Map of the World Scott Elliott The Big Tease Kevin Allen 2000 High Fidelity Stephen Frears 2001 Enigma Michael Apted 2002 The Hours Stephen Daldry 2003 The Actors Conor McPherson 2004 Along Came Polly John Hamburg 2005 Sahara Breck Eisner2006 World Trade Center Oliver Stone Charlotte's Web Gary Winick 2007 AtonementJoe Wright2009 The Soloist Nowhere Boy Sam Taylor-Wood 2011 We Need to Talk About Kevin Lynne Ramsay2012 The Avengers Joss Whedon Anna Karenina Joe Wright 2014 Godzilla Gareth Edwards2015 Fifty Shades of Grey Sam Taylor-Wood Pan Joe Wright With John Mathieson2016 Nocturnal Animals Tom Ford The Accountant Gavin O'Connor2017 Life Daniel Espinosa The Greatest Showman Michael Gracey2018 Greta Neil Jordan Bad Times at the El Royale Drew Goddard 2021 Cyrano Joe Wright 2024 Without Blood Angelina Jolie2025 The Accountant 2 Gavin O'Connor Die My Love Lynne Ramsay 2027 Greta Gerwig Post-production TBA Lorna Tucker Filming
+Key Denotes films that have not yet been released
Television Year Title Director Notes 1993 He-Play, She-Play Kieron J. Walsh Episode "Shooting to Stardom" 1994 Screen Two Nick Ward Episode "Look Me in the Eye" 1996 Out of the Deep Pan Kieron J. WalshTV movie 2001 Wit Mike Nichols 2008 The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Anthony Minghella Pilot episode 2016 Black Mirror Joe Wright Episode "Nosedive" 2021 The Nevers Joss Whedon 2 episodes 2024 Mussolini: Son of the Century Joe Wright Miniseries
Awards and nominations Academy Awards Year Title Category Result 2008 AtonementBest Cinematography 2013 Anna Karenina
BAFTA Awards Year Title Category Result 2007 AtonementBest Cinematography 2012 Anna Karenina 2016 Nocturnal Animals
American Society of Cinematographers Year Title Category Result 2007 AtonementOutstanding Achievement in Cinematography 2012 Anna Karenina
British Society of Cinematographers Year Title Category Result 2007 AtonementBest Cinematography 2012 Anna Karenina 2016 Nocturnal Animals 2018 Bad Times at the El Royale 2021 Cyrano 2025 Die My Love
Evening Standard British Film Awards Year Title Category Result 2002 The HoursTechnical Achievement Award 2007 Atonement 2012 Anna Karenina
IFTA Film & Drama Awards Year Title Category Result 2005 SaharaBest Cinematography 2007 Atonement 2011 We Need to Talk About Kevin 2012 Anna Karenina 2016 Nocturnal Animals 2017 The Greatest Showman
Other awards Year Award Category Title Result 1995 Royal Television Society Cinematography Award Skin 2004 Royal Photographic SocietyLumiere Medal 2007 Chicago Film Critics Association Best CinematographyAtonement Houston Film Critics Society Best Cinematography Online Film Critics Society Best Cinematography St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Best Cinematography 2011 British Independent Film Awards Best Technical Achievement We Need to Talk About Kevin 2012 Satellite Awards Best Cinematography Anna Karenina 2016 Critics Choice Association Best CinematographyNocturnal Animals Houston Film Critics Society Best Cinematography San Diego Film Critics Society Best Cinematography Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Best Cinematography
Further reading Ballinger, Alexander; New Cinematographers (2004)
See also List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Great Britain List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Ireland References
External links
American Cinematographer Article Moving Image Arts website: Detailed interview with Seamus McGarvey