Biography for
Seamus McGarvey More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

Mini Biography

Seamus McGarvey BSC, born in Armagh, Northern Ireland, began his career as a still photographer before attending film school in London. Upon graduating in 1988 he began shooting short films and documentaries, including Skin, which was nominated for a Royal Television Society Cinematography Award, and Atlantic, directed by Sam Taylor-Wood, nominated for the 1998 Turner Prize. He also photographed and directed over 100 music videos, for such artists as U2, the Rolling Stones, PJ Harvey, Robbie Williams, Paul McCartney, Dusty Springfield and Coldplay. In 1998, the British Society of Cinematographers invited McGarvey to join. In 2004 he was awarded the Royal Photographic Society's prestigious Lumiere medal for contributions to the art of cinematography. His credits as a cinematographer include Oliver Stone's World Trade Center, starring Nicholas Cage, The Hours, directed by Stephen Daldry, starring Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore, for which he earned the London Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Technical/Artistic Achievement; the action-adventure film Sahara, starring Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz, for which he won the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Cinematography; Along Came Polly, starring Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston; High-Fidelity, directed by Stephen Frears, starring John Cusack; Wit, starring Emma Thompson, directed by Mike Nichols; Enigma, directed by Michael Apted, The War Zone, Butterfly Kiss, The Winter Guest, The Actors, A Map of the World, Charlotte's Web, The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency directed by Anthony Minghella, and Atonement directed by Joe Wright for which he was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Cinematography and won the London Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Technical/Artistic Achievement and won the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Cinematography. His latest film is The Soloist for director Joe Wright.

Trivia

Member of the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) since 1998, and the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) since 2008.

Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since 2001.

Patron of Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Honorary Fellow of Edinburgh College of Art.

Personal Quotes

As soon as he heard my accent, he said nobody would understand me - and he persisted in calling me Sean McManus. When I watched the DVD extras, I was mortified. Oliver Stone sub-titled me! (on his experience filming Stone's World Trade Center (2006)).

Browse biographies section by name

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z