Chris Menges ASC BSC is a British cinematographer and film director whose career has encompassed documentary filmmaking, feature films and television. Born on 15 September 1940 in Kington, Herefordshire, he is the son of composer and conductor Herbert Menges.
Menges became interested in photography and filmmaking while still young. After leaving school, he worked with the American documentary filmmaker Alan Forbes, who introduced him to a range of filmmaking disciplines including editing, sound recording and camera operation. Forbes's interest in Italian neorealism and documentary filmmaking was an early influence on Menges's approach to cinema. Menges subsequently worked in a variety of technical roles, including as an assistant editor, sound recordist and camera assistant, before establishing himself as a cameraman.
In the early 1960s, Menges joined Granada Television's current-affairs documentary programme World in Action. His work on documentaries took him to numerous locations experiencing political conflict and social upheaval, including Angola, Burma, Cyprus, Nepal, South Africa and Vietnam. He frequently worked with documentary filmmaker Adrian Cowell, with whom he undertook several demanding productions, including The Opium Warlords and The Tribe That Hides from Man. This period provided Menges with extensive experience of observational camerawork and working in difficult production conditions.
Alongside documentary work, Menges began working in British feature filmmaking as a camera operator. He operated on Ken Loach's Poor Cow (1967) and Lindsay Anderson's If.... (1968), among other productions. His work on these films brought him into contact with directors and cinematographers who would become important collaborators and influences. He also worked with cinematographer Miroslav Ondříček, gaining further experience of lighting and the technical responsibilities of a director of photography.
In 1969, Menges photographed Ken Loach's Kes, his first feature film as principal director of photography. The film established a long-running professional relationship between Menges and Loach. They subsequently worked together on projects including The Gamekeeper, Fatherland and Route Irish. Menges also developed important working relationships with directors such as Stephen Frears, Bill Forsyth and Neil Jordan.
During the 1970s and early 1980s, Menges continued to combine documentary and dramatic work. His cinematography credits included Black Beauty (1971), Bloody Kids (1978), The Gamekeeper (1980), Babylon (1980), Angel (1982) and Bill Forsyth's Local Hero (1983). He also photographed television productions, including Made in Britain (1982), directed by Alan Clarke and starring Tim Roth.
Menges's international reputation grew substantially during the 1980s. He photographed Roland Joffé's The Killing Fields (1984), a drama based on the Cambodian genocide. The film won Menges the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. He subsequently worked with Joffé on The Mission (1986), for which he received a second Academy Award for Best Cinematography. These awards established him among the leading British cinematographers of the period.
Menges subsequently expanded his career into directing. His first feature as director was A World Apart (1988), a drama set against apartheid-era South Africa. The film was presented at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival and received several awards. He went on to direct CrissCross (1992), Second Best (1994) and The Lost Son (1999). His directing career ran alongside his continuing work as a cinematographer.
During the 1990s and 2000s, Menges returned extensively to cinematography. His credits included Neil Jordan's Michael Collins (1996), for which he received an Academy Award nomination, Jim Sheridan's The Boxer (1997), The Pledge (2001), Dirty Pretty Things (2002), North Country (2005), Notes on a Scandal (2006) and The Reader (2008). He subsequently worked with directors including Stephen Daldry, photographing Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011).
His contribution to cinematography has been recognised by professional organisations and international film festivals. In 2015, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Camerimage International Film Festival. In 2020, IMAGO presented him with its International Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cinematography. He remains particularly associated with the development of British documentary and dramatic cinematography from the 1960s onwards, and with the transition of British cinematographers of that generation into major international feature-film production.