Robbie Ryan (cinematographer)

Robbie Ryan
Robbie Ryan
	Ryan in 2023
Born	1970; Dublin, Ireland
Alma mater	IADT
Occupation	Cinematographer
Years active	c. 1990–present
Organization	British Society of Cinematographers (BSC)
Known for	Poor Things (2023) ; Marriage Story (2019) ; The Favourite (2018) ; American Honey (2016) ; I, Daniel Blake (2016) ; Philomena (2013) ; Fish Tank (2009)

Robbie Ryan (born 1970)^[1] is an Irish cinematographer whose work spans over 106 film projects, including feature-length, short films, commercials, and music videos. He is most known for his collaborations with film auteurs such as Andrea Arnold, Sally Potter, Stephen Frears, Ken Loach, Noah Baumbach, Yorgos Lanthimos and Mike Mills.

He received Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography for Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite (2018) and Poor Things (2023).

Life and career

Ryan was born in Sandymount, on the southside of Dublin City.^[2] At the age of 14, he decided he wanted to be a cinematographer.^[3] He attended and graduated the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology.^[4]

Ryan is a frequent collaborator on Andrea Arnold's films, including Wasp, Red Road, Fish Tank, Wuthering Heights and American Honey.^[5]^[6]

He has worked with Ken Loach on the films The Angels' Share, Jimmy's Hall, and I, Daniel Blake.^[7]^[8] He served as the director of photography on films including Philomena, Slow West and The Favourite, the latter of which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography at the 91st Academy Awards.^[9]

Filmography

Short film

Year	Title	Director	Notes
1993	The Twenty Second Plastic Love Affair	Himself
	Undertow	Conor O'Donnell
	Faith	Martina Durac	With Liam McGrath
1997	Coal	Billy O'Brien Alan Friel
1998	The Wind	Billy O'Brien Alan Friel	Documentary short; With Darran Tiernan
1998	The Farmer's Wife	Robert Taylor	Lighting cameraman
1999	7th Heaven	Shimmy Marcus
	The Tale of the Rat That Wrote	Billy O'Brien
	Sniffers	Murilo Pasta
	Patterns	Kirsten Sheridan
	Future via Hope	Murilo Pasta
	Forty Below	Clare Langan
	New Dawn	Simon Horrocks
2000	Short	Imogen Murphy
2000	The Black Suit	Frank Berry
2001	Snow	Alan Friel
	Shadowscan	Tinge Krishnan
	Ivor the Insomniac	Shimmy Marcus
	Life in the Fast Lane	Orla Walsh
	Landmark	James Gibson
	Too Dark for Night	Clare Langan	With Clare Langan
2002	Glass Hour	Clare Langan	With Clare Langan
2003	LSD '73!	Paul Duane
2003	Wasp	Andrea Arnold
2004	Knitting a Love Song	Debbie Ballin Annie Watson
2005	Toz	Fatih Kizilgok
	At Debt's Door	Kelly McErlean
	Antonio's Breakfast	Daniel Mulloy
	Tube Poker	Simon Levene
2006	Cubs	Tom Harper
2006	The Silent City	Ruairi Robinson
2007	Showtime!	Simon O'Neill
	Possessive Boyfriend	Simon O'Neill
	Son	Daniel Mulloy
	Metamorphosis	Clare Langan
	The Flooded Rooms	Clare Langan
2008	The German	Nick Ryan
	Uncle Bill's Barrel	Eoin Ryan
	Night School	Ben Soper
2009	Dating Don'ts	Simon O'Neill
	GirlLikeMe	Rowland Jobson
	Twins	Simon O'Neill
	Coppers	Simon O'Neill
2010	The Lost Explorer	Tim Walker
	Xxx	Marie Lanna
	For the First Time	Charles Mehling
2011	Pitch Black Heist	John Maclean
2012	ROFLMAO	Simon O'Neill
	Ghost in the Machine	Oliver Krimpas
	Tell Me About Yourself	Simon O'Neill
2013	The Floating World	Clare Langan
2014	The Karman Line	Oscar Sharp
	Sophie at the Races	Alan Friel
	Open Mic	Simon O'Neill
2015	The Magi	Charles Mehling
2016	Amishi	Malinda Kaur
	Drop the Hand	Simon O'Neill
	The Sticks	Russell Davidson Jamie Delaney
	Little Soldier	Stella Corradi
2017	The Human Flock	Clare Langan	With Clare Langan
	Blue Christmas	Charlotte Wells
	Cake	Alan Friel
	Aamir	Vika Evdokimenko
2018	The Big Day	Dawn Shadforth
	Future Primal	Clare Langan
	Drum	Hayley Williams
2019	A Bullet Wasted	George Milton
2019	The Bird Game	Marianna Simnett
2020	The Heart of a Tree	Clare Langan	With Clare Langan
2020	Staying (Aros Mae)	Zillah Bowes
2021	2003	Harris Dickinson
2022	Timmy	Simon O'Neill
	The Rewilding	Clare Langan	With Clare Langan
	Look at Me	Sally Potter
	The Severed Tail	Marianna Simnett
2023	F.O.G	Malinda Kaur
2023	Alchemy	Clare Langan
2024	Bien Cuit	Simon O'Neill

Feature film

Key
†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Director
1997	How to Cheat in the Leaving Certificate	Graham Jones
1998	Retribution in the Year 2050	Brendan Muldowney
2001	Large	Justin Edgar
2002	This Is Not a Love Song	Bille Eltringham
2005	Isolation	Billy O'Brien
2006	Red Road	Andrea Arnold
2006	Mischief Night	Penny Woolcock
2007	Brick Lane	Sarah Gavron
2008	Carmo	Murilo Pasta
2009	Fish Tank	Andrea Arnold
2009	The Scouting Book for Boys	Tom Harper
2010	Patagonia	Marc Evans
2011	Wuthering Heights	Andrea Arnold
2012	The Angels' Share	Ken Loach
2012	Ginger & Rosa	Sally Potter
2013	The Last Days on Mars	Ruairí Robinson
2013	Philomena	Stephen Frears
2014	Catch Me Daddy	Daniel Wolfe Matthew Wolfe
2014	Jimmy's Hall	Ken Loach
2015	Slow West	John Maclean
2016	I, Daniel Blake	Ken Loach
	American Honey	Andrea Arnold
	I Am Not a Serial Killer	Billy O'Brien
2017	The Meyerowitz Stories	Noah Baumbach
2018	The Favourite	Yorgos Lanthimos
2019	Sorry We Missed You	Ken Loach
2019	Marriage Story	Noah Baumbach
2020	The Roads Not Taken	Sally Potter
2021	C'mon C'mon	Mike Mills
2021	The Afterlight	Charlie Shackleton
2022	Medusa Deluxe	Thomas Hardiman
2023	The Old Oak	Ken Loach
2023	Poor Things	Yorgos Lanthimos
2024	Kinds of Kindness	Yorgos Lanthimos
2024	Bird	Andrea Arnold
2025	Bugonia^[10] †	Yorgos Lanthimos
TBA	Tornado †	John Maclean

TV movie

Year	Title	Director
2010	I Am Slave	Gabriel Range

Documentary film

Year	Title	Director	Notes
2012	The Summit	Nick Ryan	With Fredrik Sträng
2019	Best Before Death	Paul Duane	With Patrick Jordan
2022	This Much I Know to Be True	Andrew Dominik

Other

Concert film

Year	Title	Director
2020	Idiot Prayer	Himself

Music video

Year	Title	Director	Ref.
2022	"Hypnotized"	Sophie Ellis-Bextor	^[11]

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

Year	Category	Title	Result
2019	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Nominated
2024	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Nominated

Alliance of Women Film Journalists

Year	Category	Title	Result
2019	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Nominated
2024	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Nominated

American Society of Cinematographers

Year	Category	Title	Result
2019	Outstanding Achievement in Theatrical Releases	The Favourite	Nominated
2024	Outstanding Achievement in Theatrical Releases	Poor Things	Nominated

Austin Film Critics Association

Year	Category	Title	Result
2024	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Nominated

Boston Society of Film Critics

Year	Category	Title	Result
2023	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Runner-up

British Academy Film Awards

Year	Category	Title	Result
2019	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Nominated
2024	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Nominated

British Independent Film Awards

Year	Category	Title	Result
2009	Best Technical Achievement	Fish Tank	Nominated
2012		Ginger & Rosa	Nominated
2014		Catch Me Daddy	Nominated
2016		American Honey	Won
2018	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Won

British Society of Cinematographers

Year	Category	Title	Result
2019	Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film	The Favorite	Nominated
2024	Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film	Poor Things	Won

Camerimage

Year	Category	Title	Result
2010	Best Cinematography in a Music Video	Plan B: Prayin'	Nominated
2011	Golden Frog	Wuthering Heights	Nominated
2011	Bronze Frog	Wuthering Heights	Won
2012	Best Cinematography in a Music Video	The Shoes: Time to Dance	Nominated
2014	Best Cinematography in a Music Video	Paolo Nutini: Iron Sky	Won
2018	Golden Frog	The Favourite	Nominated
2018	Audience Award	The Favourite	Won
2021	Golden Frog	C'mon C'mon	Won
2021	Audience Award	C'mon C'mon	Won
2023	Golden Frog	Poor Things	Nominated
	Bronze Frog		Won
	Audience Award		Won

Chicago Film Critics Association

Year	Category	Title	Result
2018	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Nominated
2023	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Nominated

Critics' Choice Movie Awards

Year	Category	Title	Result
2019	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Nominated
2024	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Nominated

Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association

Year	Category	Title	Result
2018	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Runner-up

Dublin Film Critics' Circle

Year	Category	Title	Result
2019	Best Cinematography	Marriage Story	7th place
2019	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	8th place

European Film Awards

Year	Category	Title	Result
2019	Best Cinematographer	The Favorite	Won

Evening Standard British Film Awards

Year	Category	Title	Result
2012	Technical Achievement Award	Wuthering Heights	Won
2017	Technical Achievement Award	American Honey	Nominated

Florida Film Critics Circle

Year	Category	Title	Result
2018	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Nominated
2023	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Nominated

Georgia Film Critics Association

Year	Category	Title	Result
2019	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Nominated
2024	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Nominated

Hollywood Creative Alliance
(Astra Film Creative Arts Awards)

Year	Category	Title	Result
2024	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Nominated

Houston Film Critics Society

Year	Category	Title	Result
2019	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Nominated
2024	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Nominated

Independent Spirit Awards

Year	Category	Title	Result
2017	Best Cinematography	American Honey	Nominated

IndieWire Critics Poll

Year	Category	Title	Result
2016	Best Cinematography	American Honey	6th place
2023	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Runner-up

Irish Film & Television Awards

Year	Category	Title	Result
2007	Best Cinematography	Isolation	Nominated
2012		Wuthering Heights	Nominated
2017		American Honey	Nominated
2020		Marriage Story	Nominated

London Film Critics' Circle

Year	Category	Title	Result
2012	Technical Achievement of the Year	Wuthering Heights	Nominated
2017	Technical Achievement of the Year	American Honey	Nominated

Los Angeles Film Critics Association

Year	Category	Title	Result
2023	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Won

MTV Video Music Awards

Year	Category	Title	Result
2006	Best Cinematography	James Blunt: You're Beautiful	Won

Online Film Critics Society

Year	Category	Title	Result
2019	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Nominated
2024	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Nominated

San Diego Film Critics Society

Year	Category	Title	Result
2023	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Nominated

San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle

Year	Category	Title	Result
2018	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Nominated
2024	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Nominated

Satellite Awards

Year	Category	Title	Result
2019	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Nominated
2022	Best Cinematography	C'mon C'mon	Nominated

Seattle Film Critics Society

Year	Category	Title	Result
2018	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Nominated
2024	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Won

St. Louis Film Critics Association

Year	Category	Title	Result
2018	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Nominated

Venice Film Festival

Year	Category	Title	Result
2011	Golden Osella for Outstanding Technical Contribution	Wuthering Heights	Won

Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association

Year	Category	Title	Result
2018	Best Cinematography	The Favourite	Nominated
2023	Best Cinematography	Poor Things	Nominated

References

^ "Robbie Ryan". Cinematographers.nl. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
^ "Robbie Ryan: From Dún Laoghaire to an Oscar nomination". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
^ "Robbie Ryan BSC ISC". My Management. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
^ "Cinematographer Robbie Ryan". My Therapy. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
^ "Films on film sweep Cannes 2016 as Robbie Ryan BSC shines". British Cinematographer. 3 August 2016. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
^ Falk, Quentin (26 March 2012). "Robbie Ryan: Interview". BAFTA. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
^ Wigley, Samuel (29 September 2015). "Seven essential films shot by Robbie Ryan". BFI London Film Festival. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
^ Champetier, Caroline (13 May 2016). "Cinematographer Robbie Ryan, BSC, ISC, discusses his work on "I, Daniel Blake", directed by Ken Loach". AF Cinema. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
^ Blum, Laura (13 May 2015). "Cinematographer Robbie Ryan on Shooting "Slow West"". Thalo. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
^ "Bugonia (2025) - IMDb". IMDb.
^ Promonews. "Sophie Ellis-Bextor x Wuh Oh 'Hypnotized' by Sophie Muller | Videos". Promonewstv. Retrieved 16 December 2022.

External links

Robbie Ryan at IMDb

[1] "Robbie Ryan". Cinematographers.nl. Retrieved 16 September 2016.

[2] "Robbie Ryan: From Dún Laoghaire to an Oscar nomination". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 April 2024.

[3] "Robbie Ryan BSC ISC". My Management. Retrieved 16 September 2016.

[4] "Cinematographer Robbie Ryan". My Therapy. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2016.

[5] "Films on film sweep Cannes 2016 as Robbie Ryan BSC shines". British Cinematographer. 3 August 2016. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.

[6] Falk, Quentin (26 March 2012). "Robbie Ryan: Interview". BAFTA. Retrieved 16 September 2016.

[7] Wigley, Samuel (29 September 2015). "Seven essential films shot by Robbie Ryan". BFI London Film Festival. Retrieved 16 September 2016.

[8] Champetier, Caroline (13 May 2016). "Cinematographer Robbie Ryan, BSC, ISC, discusses his work on "I, Daniel Blake", directed by Ken Loach". AF Cinema. Retrieved 16 September 2016.

[9] Blum, Laura (13 May 2015). "Cinematographer Robbie Ryan on Shooting "Slow West"". Thalo. Retrieved 16 September 2016.

[10] "Bugonia (2025) - IMDb". IMDb.

[11] Promonews. "Sophie Ellis-Bextor x Wuh Oh 'Hypnotized' by Sophie Muller | Videos". Promonewstv. Retrieved 16 December 2022.

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Robbie Ryan
Ryan in 2023
Born	1970 Dublin, Ireland
Alma mater	IADT
Occupation	Cinematographer
Years active	c. 1990–present
Organization	British Society of Cinematographers (BSC)
Known for	Poor Things (2023) Marriage Story (2019) The Favourite (2018) American Honey (2016) I, Daniel Blake (2016) Philomena (2013) Fish Tank (2009)