I’m not prone to easy admiration and hero worship of any sort. However, if I could define a personal cinematography hero it would be Chris Doyle.

Movies and film had interested me for years. Stories, pictures, thoughts and deeds, trying to tease the essence of life out of its hidey hole.

It was just a side interest until I saw the movie Last Life in the Universe. We were in Casa Video. The woman I was with at the time had picked up some god-awful British drama were everyone dies of tuberculosis and lost loves. I had picked up something more energetic I’m sure. That video escapes me but I like to imagine it was something that might have combined vengeance and philosophy…and possibly cooking.

We stalked through the store for an hour saying things like, “This?” “Huh? It has cats!” “You like violence.” “But it’s about a cook who makes a special meal for his dying wife?! It says it’s a laugh riot right here on the back of the box!”

Finally, I’m not sure why or how or when exactly, we were both so exhausted from the endless search we gave up and settled on a Thai movie called Last Life in the Universe. This thing completely blew my mind. The imagery was so unbearably beautiful that I had to know who shot that and how. That’s what started me on a path of actually learning about cinematography and how light played through images.

The man who shot that movie was Chris Doyle.

This photo of him from an interview on the Lady in the Water (which he shot) DVD is one of the reasons why he’s my hero.

One day I’d like to get drunk with him in a bar in China.

This quote from him, I think, is a good life philosophy,

My best film is always my next film. I couldn’t make Chungking Express now, because of the way I live and drink I’ve forgotten how I did it. I don’t believe in film school or film theory. Just try and get in there and make the bloody film, do good work and be with people you love.

It was because of the accidental viewing of the beauty of his imagery that I got passionate about film.

And now I’ve got a gig as a camera assistant on a 35mm feature where I might learn something useful and at the very least I’ll have some fun.

Thank you Chris Doyle where ever you are and if you ever need a flunky I’ll gladly get you coffee and beer. Preferably at the same time.