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behind the camera
Attention To Detail
Attention To Detail
An interview with Roger Eaton
Not content with getting to the top of one profession, Roger Eaton is starting to scale the heights of another. A successful stills photog- rapher in the 80s and 90s, he has now started to accumulate an impressive list of credits in a vari- ety of commercials and low budget features.
“My highlight as a stills photographer was probably doing the cover of Italian Vogue,” says Eaton, “and being surrounded by all my heroes as I did it. There’s something fascinating about really getting into your subject on an occasion like that.”
Drawing on that experience in his film work, 43 year old Eaton is able to bring a fine attention to detail to the set, and a wide range of influences that have inspired his work to date.
“My past experience translates as a keen scrutiny for detail when it comes
to composition and light-
ing,” he explains. “You see
every single thing in a still
and it has to be there to be
examined. There’s no room
for any mistakes on that and
that’s quite a good discipline
to have. Also it’s very good for
helping you deal with people,
because I photographed people
a lot, and I was therefore direct-
ing them a lot too. I think that’s
very handy.”
Quoting Robert Frank and Joel-
Peter Witkin as influences on his stills photography, Eaton also admires the
film work of Darius Khondji, Peter
Biziou and Peter Suschitzky. And while
it might seem to some a slightly curious
thing that he decided to focus on film
after working so hard to make it in one artistic arena, Eaton sees it as a perfectly natural move.
Photos main: Director of Photography Roger Eaton; top: Dennis Titus in Lava and poster image of David Fairman’s Cold Fish
continued over
“I suppose once you’ve done some- thing you’ve done it,” he shrugs, “so why go round the block twice? Once
you’ve got close to the top of something, does that last nine yards mean everything.
“Or is it a question of actually picking up something you feel very passionately about and starting again? My learning curve has gone through the roof in this profession, I’ve learned so much
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