Dick Pope, cinematographer and Mike Leigh collaborator, dies aged 77

The British cinematographer Dick Pope, known for his work with Mike Leigh, has died at the age of 77.

The news was confirmed in a statement from the British Society of Cinematographers.

“It is with deepest sadness that we learn of the passing of our friend and colleague Dick Pope BSC,” it read. “Dick had a reputation for being a wonderful collaborator and someone who was passionate about the art form of cinematography. He was keen to embrace new technologies and ideas while also ensuring the skills and crafts of those that came before him weren’t lost.”

Pope worked with Leigh on 11 of his films starting with 1990’s Life is Sweet. Their other joint credits include Naked, Secrets & Lies, Another Year, Peterloo and Vera Drake. He received an Oscar nomination for his work on the period drama Mr Turner.

“I’ve always described it as a bit of a magical mystery tour, because you don’t really know what you’re getting into,” Pope said of their process in 2019.

When asked about their relationship in 2019, Leigh said: “The thing about working with the same cinematographer over a long stretch … A violinist who owns a Stradivarius is not going to arbitrarily use another fiddle. That is the tool and you can play anything with it. So that’s how I feel.”

Pope also received a nomination for 2006 mystery The Illusionist. His other credits included 2000’s The Way of the Gun, 2008’s Me and Orson Welles and 2019’s Motherless Brooklyn. Directors that Pope worked with also included Chiwetel Ejiofor, Gurinder Chadha and Barry Levinson.

His final credit is on Leigh’s new film, the London-set drama Hard Truths, which premiered to acclaim at this year’s Toronto film festival. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw called it a “deeply sober, sombre, compassionate drama”. The Oscar-tipped film, starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste, is set to be released later this year.

Leigh had said in an interview that Pope had undergone “major heart surgery” before production.

Pope is survived by his wife Pat.