John Mathieson, a renowned English cinematographer and commercial director, was born on May 3, 1961, on the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, England. He is one of the prominent filmmakers who emerged from the music video industry of the late 1980s and 1990s.
Mathieson began his career as a camera assistant to Gabriel Beristain in the British film industry and worked his way up the ranks. His breakthrough came in 1988 with the groundbreaking music video "Peek-a-Boo" for Siouxsie and the Banshees, directed by Peter Scammell.
He collaborated with John Maybury, director of the Sinéad O'Connor video "Nothing Compares 2 U," went and on to photograph Maybury's award-winning film Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon. Throughout the 1990s, Mathieson honed his craft by shooting numerous television commercials and music videos for artists including Madonna, Prince, and Massive Attack.
In the mid-1990s, Mathieson photographed two feature films for director Karim Dridi, earning him the honor of Chevalier by the French government. He caught the attention of Tony Scott while shooting television commercials for RSA Films and later worked as a visual effects cinematographer on Enemy of the State for Tony Scott.
Mathieson photographed the film Plunkett & Macleane for Jake Scott, which led to Ridley Scott inviting him to work on his next project. He has since photographed five films for Ridley Scott, earning an Academy Award nomination for Gladiator in 2000 and winning the BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography in the same year.
Mathieson's second Oscar nomination came for The Phantom of the Opera in 2004, directed by Joel Schumacher. Despite his success in big-budget film production, he maintains links with independent British film, working on more modest-budget projects like Trauma and Stoned.
Mathieson has also worked on the DC Films production Batgirl, which was cancelled in August 2022. He is married to Maria Tarmander and has earned a Knighthood of the Order of Arts and Letters for his contributions to the entertainment industry.
