Simon Kossoff BSC was born and educated in London, Kossoff trained for three years at the Ealing School of Photography. He began his professional career as an assistant film cameraman with BBC Scotland, where he worked from 1972 to 1976. He subsequently worked as a freelance documentary cameraman before becoming a Director of Photography with Thames Television in 1979.
His documentary career took him to a number of challenging locations. He filmed in the Middle East for The Longest War (1983), covered Northern Ireland for The Troubles (1981), and worked in Ethiopia, Bolivia and Guatemala for This Week. His documentary work also included The Women of China (1980).
From the late 1980s, Kossoff increasingly worked as a Director of Photography on television drama. His credits included Demob, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Invasion Earth, The Ambassador, Seaforth, Poirot, Trial and Retribution and Robin Hood.
He was one of the cinematographers on Our Friends in the North (1996), photographing the Soho sequences as well as two episodes. His work on the series, alongside John Daly and John Kenway, received a BAFTA nomination for Best Photography and Lighting.
Kossoff also photographed a number of single television films, including Ending Up, Anchor Me, Back Home, Incident in Judaea, Trial by Fire, Dead Gorgeous, Soul Survivors and The House of Bernarda Alba.
A particularly important part of his later career was his collaboration with director Aisling Walsh. Kossoff photographed Fingersmith, Damage, The Daisy Chain and Sinners.