# Sean Bobbitt

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British cinematographer

Sean Bobbitt Born Sean Francis Bobbitt (1958-11-29) November 29, 1958 (age 67) Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S. Years active 1988–present

**Sean Francis Bobbitt**, [B.S.C.](/source/British_Society_of_Cinematographers) (born 29 November 1958) is a British cinematographer, known for his collaborations with directors [Steve McQueen](/source/Steve_McQueen_(filmmaker)) and [Nia DaCosta](/source/Nia_DaCosta).

He was nominated for the [Academy Award for Best Cinematography](/source/Academy_Award_for_Best_Cinematography) for his work on *[Judas and the Black Messiah](/source/Judas_and_the_Black_Messiah)* (2021). For *[Sense & Sensibility](/source/Sense_and_Sensibility_(2008_TV_series))* (2008), he was nominated for the [Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie](/source/Primetime_Emmy_Award_for_Outstanding_Cinematography_for_a_Limited_or_Anthology_Series_or_Movie).

## Early life

Bobbitt was born in [Corpus Christi, Texas](/source/Corpus_Christi%2C_Texas) on 29 November 1958.

After his family moved to the UK, he went to school at [St George's College, Weybridge](/source/St_George's_College%2C_Weybridge).

## Career

Bobbitt started his career as a news and documentary cameraman, a role which took him to the most conflicted spots of the globe.

In 2008, Bobbitt worked with artist-turned-director [Steve McQueen](/source/Steve_McQueen_(director)) on British film *[Hunger](/source/Hunger_(2008_film))*, a hard-hitting film about the Northern Irish hunger striker, Bobby Sands. With this film Bobbitt, McQueen, editor [Joe Walker](/source/Joe_Walker_(film_editor)) and actor [Michael Fassbender](/source/Michael_Fassbender) formed a collaborative award-winning team that have gone on to make a further two films, *[Shame](/source/Shame_(2011_film))* and *[12 Years a Slave](/source/12_Years_a_Slave_(film))*. Bobbitt won a BIFA in 2008 for his work on *[Hunger](/source/Hunger_(2008_film))*. In 2012, Bobbitt won the Carlo Di Palma European Cinematographer of the Year Award at the European Film Awards for his work on *Shame*.

In 2011, Bobbitt worked on the pilot of HBO's acclaimed series *[Game of Thrones](/source/Game_of_Thrones)*. The following year, Bobbitt completed filming on *[The Place Beyond the Pines](/source/The_Place_Beyond_the_Pines)*, a [Neil Jordan](/source/Neil_Jordan) called *[Byzantium](/source/Byzantium_(film))*, and he concluded five years of working on [Michael Winterbottom](/source/Michael_Winterbottom) drama-film *[Everyday](/source/Everyday_(film))*.

The end of 2013 saw the release of *[12 Years a Slave](/source/12_Years_a_Slave_(film))*, for which he received multiple cinematography award nominations. In 2018, he collaborated with McQueen again on heist movie *[Widows](/source/Widows_(2018_film))*.

In 2019, he shot *[Judas and the Black Messiah](/source/Judas_and_the_Black_Messiah)* for which he was nominated for the [Academy Award for Best Cinematography](/source/Academy_Award_for_Best_Cinematography). The film was released on [HBO Max](/source/HBO_Max) in 2021, having been postponed due to the [COVID-19 pandemic](/source/COVID-19_pandemic).

Bobbitt began a collaboration with [Nia DaCosta](/source/Nia_DaCosta), filming *[The Marvels](/source/The_Marvels)* in 2021, and in 2024, he completed filming on both *[Hedda](/source/Hedda_(2025_film))* and *[28 Years Later: The Bone Temple](/source/28_Years_Later%3A_The_Bone_Temple)*, both directed by DiCosta.

## Filmography

### Film

Year Title Director Notes 1999 Wonderland Michael Winterbottom 2001 Lawless Heart Tom Hunsinger Neil Hunter 2002 Summer Things Michel Blanc 2006 Cargo Clive Gordon The Situation Philip Haas 2007 The Baker Gareth Lewis Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution Bille Eltringham 2008 Hunger Steve McQueen 2010 Africa United Debs Gardner-Paterson 2011 Shame Steve McQueen Hysteria Tanya Wexler 2012 Everyday Michael Winterbottom With Annenarie Lean-Vercoe, James Clark, Simon Tindall and Marcel Zyskind The Place Beyond the Pines Derek Cianfrance Byzantium Neil Jordan 2013 12 Years a Slave Steve McQueen Oldboy Spike Lee 2014 Kill the Messenger Michael Cuesta 2015 Rock the Kasbah Barry Levinson 2016 Queen of Katwe Mira Nair 2017 On Chesil Beach Dominic Cooke Stronger David Gordon Green 2018 Widows Steve McQueen 2020 The Courier Dominic Cooke The Rhythm Section Reed Morano 2021 Judas and the Black Messiah Shaka King 2023 The Marvels Nia DaCosta 2025 Hedda 2026 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

**Documentary film**

Year Title Director 2012 Trashed Candida Brady

### Television

**Miniseries**

Year Title Director Notes 1994 Watergate Mick Gold Documentary series 1998 Ancient Inventions Daniel Percival Phil Grabsky 2003 Canterbury Tales Marc Munden Julian Jarrold Episodes "The Knight's Tale" and "The Man of Law's Tale" 2004 The Long Firm Bille Eltringham 2008 Sense and Sensibility John Alexander 2009 Unforgiven David Evans 2016 Codes of Conduct Steve McQueen

**TV movies**

Year Title Director 2001 The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby Stephen Whittaker Sweet Revenge David Morrissey 2002 Jeffrey Archer: The Truth Guy Jenkin 2003 Second Generation Jon Sen

**TV series**

Year Title Director Note 2002 Spooks Rob Bailey Episodes "One Last Dance" and "Traitor's Gate"

## Awards and nominations

Year Title Awards/Nominations 2013 12 Years a Slave Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography 2021 Judas and the Black Messiah Nominated – Academy Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography Nominated – Black Reel Award for Outstanding Cinematography

## References

## External links

- [Sean Bobbitt](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0090312/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

- Interview with [Bright Lights Film Journal](http://brightlightsfilm.com/collaborators-cinematographer-sean-bobbitt-on-working-with-director-steve-mcqueen-on-12-years-a-slave-and-more/)

Awards for Sean Bobbitt v t e European Film Award for Best Cinematographer Ulf Brantas and Jörgen Persson (1989) Tonino Nardi (1990) Walther van den Ende (1991) Jean-Yves Escoffier (1992) John Seale (1997) Adrian Biddle (1998) Lajos Koltai (1999) Vittorio Storaro (2000) Bruno Delbonnel (2001) Paweł Edelman (2002) Anthony Dod Mantle (2003) Eduardo Serra (2004) Franz Lustig (2005) Barry Ackroyd and José Luis Alcaine (2006) Frank Griebe (2007) Marco Onorato (2008) Anthony Dod Mantle (2009) Giora Bejach (2010) Manuel Alberto Claro (2011) Sean Bobbitt (2012) Asaf Sudry (2013) Łukasz Żal and Ryszard Lenczewski (2014) Martin Gschlacht (2015) Camilla Hjelm Knudsen (2016) Mikhail Krichman (2017) Martin Otterbeck (2018) Robbie Ryan (2019) Matteo Cocco (2020) Crystel Fournier (2021) Kate McCullough (2022) Rasmus Videbæk (2023) Benjamin Kračun (2024) Mauro Herce (2025) v t e Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography Toyomichi Kurita (1985) Robert Richardson (1986) Haskell Wexler (1987) Sven Nykvist (1988) Robert Yeoman (1989) Frederick Elmes (1990) Walt Lloyd (1991) Frederick Elmes (1992) Lisa Rinzler (1993) John Thomas (1994) Declan Quinn (1995) Roger Deakins (1996) Declan Quinn (1997) Maryse Alberti (1998) Lisa Rinzler (1999) Matthew Libatique (2000) Peter Deming (2001) Edward Lachman (2002) Declan Quinn (2003) Éric Gautier (2004) Robert Elswit (2005) Guillermo Navarro (2006) Janusz Kamiński (2007) Maryse Alberti (2008) Roger Deakins (2009) Matthew Libatique (2010) Guillaume Schiffman (2011) Ben Richardson (2012) Sean Bobbitt (2013) Emmanuel Lubezki (2014) Edward Lachman (2015) James Laxton (2016) Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (2017) Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (2018) Jarin Blaschke (2019) Joshua James Richards (2020) Eduard Grau (2021) Florian Hoffmeister (2022) Eigil Bryld (2023) Jomo Fray (2024) Adolpho Veloso (2025) v t e St. Louis Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography Zhao Xiaoding (2004) No Award (2005) Stuart Dryburgh (2006) Roger Deakins (2007) Mandy Walker (2008) Dion Beebe (2009) No Award (2010) Emmanuel Lubezki (2011) Roger Deakins (2012) Sean Bobbitt (2013) No Award (2014) Emmanuel Lubezki (2015) Linus Sandgren (2016) Roger Deakins (2017) Alfonso Cuarón (2018) Roger Deakins (2019) Joshua James Richards (2020) Ari Wegner (2021) Ben Davis (2022) Hoyte van Hoytema (2023) Jarin Blaschke (2024) Michael Bauman (2025)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sean Bobbitt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Bobbitt) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Bobbitt?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.