John de Borman BSC AFC is one of Britain's most accomplished cinematographers, with a career spanning more than three decades across award-winning feature films, television drama and international productions.
He shot his first feature film, Murder Blues, in 1991 before establishing himself as one of the UK's leading directors of photography. His breakthrough came with Small Faces (1996), winner of the Edinburgh International Film Festival's Best British Film award, followed by the international success of The Full Monty (1997).
In 1998, John photographed Hideous Kinky, earning the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Technical/Artistic Achievement. His work on Hamlet (2000) received a nomination for Best Cinematography at the Independent Spirit Awards.
John subsequently photographed a wide range of acclaimed international features, including Serendipity (2001), starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale; Ella Enchanted (2004); Shall We Dance? (2004), starring Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez and Susan Sarandon; and A Lot Like Love (2005), starring Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet.
His work on the BBC drama Tsunami: The Aftermath earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Photography & Lighting in 2007. In 2009, he won the World Cinema Cinematography Award at the Sundance Film Festival for An Education, for which he also received a British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) Best Cinematography nomination. The film itself went on to win the Independent Spirit Award for Best International Film and the Sundance Audience Award.
John continued to work on a diverse range of high-profile productions, including Last Chance Harvey (2008), Made in Dagenham (2010), Quartet (2012), directed by Dustin Hoffman, Half of a Yellow Sun (2013), filmed in Nigeria, and If I Stay (2014), starring Chloë Grace Moretz.
His television work includes the award-winning political drama Coalition (2015), which received the RTS Award for Best Drama, the Malaysian-shot series Indian Summer (2015), and Will (2016), directed by Shekhar Kapur. He later photographed Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018), directed by Crispian Mills and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, followed by episodes of the epic BBC drama World on Fire (2019), directed by Thomas Napper. Later that year, he completed Pixie, directed by Barnaby Thompson and starring Alec Baldwin.
In 2020, John was invited to join the Association Française des Directrices et Directeurs de la Photographie Cinématographique (AFC), recognising his contribution to international cinematography. In 2026 he was awarded the BSC John Alcott Award for his contribution to the aims and objectives of the society.
Beyond his work behind the camera, John has played an important role in supporting the craft of cinematography. He served as President of the British Society of Cinematographers from 2010 to 2014, during which he established the BSC Club.