Richard Pope is a British cinematographer who has worked with director Mike Leigh throughout his career and was nominated for an Oscar for his work lensing Leigh’s 2014 biopic Mr. Leigh. Turner passed away.
Pope’s death was confirmed by the British Society of Cinematographers in a statement released on Tuesday.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our friend and colleague Dick Pope BSC,” the group wrote. “Dick had a reputation for being a great collaborator and passionate about the art form of cinematography. He was open to new techniques and ideas, while at the same time preserving the skills and craft of his predecessors. I was trying not to get hurt.”
Pope and Lee’s artistic partnership was the most enduring of his career, beginning with the 1990 drama Life is Sweet. This film became Lee’s third feature film. Pope has since served as cinematographer on each of Lee’s films, collaborating on period dramas and contemporary working-class dramas that document Britain’s evolution into its post-Brexit counterpart. In 2015, Pope was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Lee’s Mr. Martin. Turner is a drama about the later years of 1800s painter JMW Turner. He won the British Cinematographers Guild Award for Best Cinematography for this film.
Pope’s collaborations with Lee and other British filmmakers gave him a reputation that allowed him to jump the pond and appear in Hollywood productions. Throughout his career, he worked with Christopher McQuarrie in his shoot-’em-up feature debut, The Way of the Gun, with Barry Levinson in the satirical film Man of the Year, and with Orson Welles and Orson Welles. He collaborated with Richard Linklater on both “Me and Orson Welles”. “Barney” Pope received his first Oscar nomination for lensing Neil Berger’s 2006 magician thriller “The Illusionist.” Other directorial collaborators include Mike Newell, Edward Norton, Gurinder Chadha, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Among other honors, Pope was a three-time recipient of the Camerimage Golden Frog Award, which is awarded at the annual Camerimage International Film Festival of Cinematic Arts in Poland. They were there to appear in Lee’s “Secrets and Lies” in 2006 and “Vera Drake” in 2004, respectively.
Pope was born in 1947 in Bromley, Kent. My first job as a cinematographer was on the “World in Action” series of documentaries. He turned to narrative television in the 80s and was nominated for a BAFTA for his work on Porterhouse Blue.
His last credit was Mike Leigh’s latest film, “Hard Truths,” starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste, the director’s first contemporary story since 2010’s “Another Year.” Lee said in an interview that Pope underwent heart surgery before filming. The film was screened at the New York Film Festival and the London Film Festival earlier this month after receiving rave reviews from its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Bleecker Street is scheduled for a limited, award-winning release in December.
Pope is survived by his wife, Pat;
