11 Cinematographers Who Became Great Directors

6) Nicolas Roeg

One of the greatest British directors of all time started as a cinematographer. Nicolas Roeg initially served as a camera operator, with the most noteworthy among these credits being Lawrence of Arabia. Despite butting heads with Lawrence director David Lean, who fired him from his production of Dr. Zhivago, Roeg went on to shoot other great films from the 1960s, such as Francois Truffaut’s Fahrenheit 451 and Richard Lester’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

He got his first opportunity to direct, as well as photograph, his first feature, Performance, in 1970, and from there it was a string of influential films like Walkabout, Don’t Look Now and The Man Who Fell to Earth. His innovative style of presenting his narratives outside of their typical and expected chronological order was especially disruptive in its day, and it’s no wonder he’s said to be a major influence on the work of fellow Londoner Christopher Nolan.

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