Seamus McGarvey

Highest Rated: 100% Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home (2010)

Lowest Rated: 24% Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)

Birthday: Jun 29, 1967

Birthplace: Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK

Emerging from the hard-scrabble world of documentary filmmaking, Seamus McGarvey quickly developed into one of feature films' most talented, diverse and highly regarded directors of photography. Over the years, he earned the reputation of being able to turn the dourest locations into some of the most beautifully shot images in British cinema. Instead of imposing a look on a particular film, McGarvey sought to find the photographic heart of the story by setting the right visual mood and tone. The youngest member ever invited to join the British Society of Cinematographers, McGarvey became highly decorated early in his career before moving on to film major Hollywood features, including "Along Came Polly" (2004), "Word Trade Center" (2006) and "Atonement" (2007), for which he earned his first Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography. Later work included such visually divergent productions as "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" (HBO, 2008), "We Need to Talk About Kevin" (2011) and the superhero spectacular "The Avengers" (2012). Whether tasked with evoking the proper mood and air of authenticity for a British period drama or providing an appropriately vibrant color palette for a big-budget epic, McGarvey first uncovered the needs of the film before brilliantly delivering whatever aesthetic the work required.