Roger Deakins: Byways

Obscura Gallery is honored to present a photographic exhibition by acclaimed British cinematographer Roger Deakins, with an opening reception on Friday, March 15 from 4-7pm at our new gallery location, 225 Delgado Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The photographic exhibition reflects a life spent looking and telling stories through images from 1971 to the present, featuring work from his recent publication Byways (published by Damiani Books in 2021 and now in its 7th edition). Although a highly acclaimed cinematographer, Deakins has also cultivated a passion for still photography, producing compelling portraits and landscapes from visually striking locations throughout the world. This range of still photography includes notable images of our home state of New Mexico, as well as the seaside of Deakins’ native England, and cinematic views from New Zealand, Australia, and Scotland. Roger Deakins has earned an extraordinary reputation for his diverse and expansive body of cinema work, spanning more than five decades. He has been nominated for 16 Academy Awards, winning twice for Blade runner 2049 and 1917. His other well-known nominated Academy Award films include Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou?, No Country for Old Men, Shawshank Redemption, True Grit, and so many more.



Obscura Gallery, Collected Works Bookstore, and Violet Crown proudly announce a collaborative offering of engaging events to pay tribute to the esteemed cinematographer and photographer Roger Deakins. These special events, which will take place on Thursday, March 14, and Friday, March 15, aim to honor Deakins' remarkable contributions to the art of cinema and photography.

The events will include an array of activities including showcasing one of Deakins' cinematic masterpieces, No Country for Old Men, an insightful discussion followed by a book signing for Byways with Mr. Deakins, and our exclusive exhibition of his captivating photography. Attendees will have the opportunity to delve into the creative mind of Roger Deakins over two days.

Included in the Obscura Gallery exhibition are a selection of images from the monograph Byways, now in its seventh reprint, which includes over 150 previously unpublished black-and-white photographs spanning five decades, from 1971 to the present. 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. There are several images in the exhibition taken in our home-state of New Mexico with the same character and signature style of which Deakins is revered.



Roger A. Deakins was born and raised in Devon. He studied Graphic Design at the Bath College of Art and before continuing on to the National Film School, he spent time shooting still photographs for North Devon, with the intent of capturing the disappearing rural farm life. Here he developed his love of still photography. After graduating from the National Film School, he shot a number of documentaries and then moved into feature films.

Roger has been nominated 16 times for an Academy Award and won twice for the movies BLADERUNNER 2049 and 1917. He has also been nominated 17 times for the top award of the American Society of Cinematographers, 11 times for the BAFTA award and 12 times for the British Society of Cinematographers. He has been awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards from the American Society of Cinematographers, the British Society of Cinematographers and the National Board of Review. He is also the only cinematographer to have been awarded the honor of CBE in 2013 as well as receiving the honor of knighthood in 2021. Roger also enjoys being a visual consultant on certain animated films. He has consulted on WALL•E, RANGO, all of the HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON films and VIVO, to name a few. In 2021, in addition to publishing Byways, he and his long-time collaborator James Ellis Deakins created an immensely successful podcast, Team Deakins, on the subject of filmmaking.