Pontikos began her career in the camera department, working as a trainee before progressing to roles as a clapper loader and focus puller. During approximately six years of assisting, she worked on feature films including Dirty Pretty Things (2002), Thunderbirds (2004) and Notes on a Scandal (2006). She subsequently studied cinematography at the National Film and Television School, graduating in 2007. During this period, she also directed and photographed the documentary China’s Wild West, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009.
After graduating, Pontikos concentrated on narrative filmmaking, shooting short films before making her feature debut with Andrew Haigh’s Weekend (2011). The film received international recognition and helped establish her career in independent cinema. In 2014, she won the World Cinema Dramatic Cinematography Award at the Sundance Film Festival for Lilting, directed by Hong Khaou.
Her subsequent feature credits include Second Coming (2014), Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (2017) and The Man in My Basement (2025). In television, she has worked on series including The Game (2014), Humans (2015), Marcella (2016), Russian Doll (2022) and Three Women (2023), Blade Runner 2099 (2026). Her cinematography on the second season of Russian Doll earned nominations for both a Primetime Emmy Award and an American Society of Cinematographers Award