Rob Hardy is an English cinematographer.
Early life Born in Barking, London, Hardy attended Newport Film School and Northern Media School in Sheffield Hallam University where he specialised in cinematography.
Career Soon after, he started shooting music videos in the 90s in Sheffield, he also took on jobs for theatre companies experimenting with video art before transitioning as a DP for commercials. His major breakthrough would come when he served as director of photography for John Crowley's Boy A starring Andrew Garfield which won him the BAFTA Award for Best Photography and Lighting - Fiction/Entertainment.
In 2015, Hardy served as director of photography for Ex Machina which marked his first collaboration with Alex Garland. In an interview with Mandy, Hardy stated that he immediately accepted the job after reading the script, and that Garland had liked his work in Red Riding. Speaking of the collaboration, Hardy called the director a "great collaborator who takes a no nonsense approach which gets to the heart of it quickly." Early discussions with Garland mainly talked about propelling the film's small nature into a much larger scale as well as several inspirations such as Kazimir Malevich's abstracted art style and Saul Leiter's photographic portfolio. Hardy later reunited with Garland for Annihilation in 2018. Talking about the aspects of the film, Hardy used plants and sculptures as reference points as well as experimenting with different cameras and lenses to create "trippy effects" which layered over several other methods.
Later that year, he photographed the sixth entry of the Mission: Impossible film series, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, directed by Christopher McQuarrie. According to an interview published by British Cinematographer, Hardy stated that the film was "a completely different kind of challenge" and that McQuarrie wanted the film to be practical, eyeing for a more gritty and realistic feel. This approach opted for Hardy to operate the camera on his own, allowing for him to be closer to the action.
Filmography Film Year Title Director Notes2007 Boy A John Crowley Exhibit A Dom Rotheroe 2008 Is Anybody There? John Crowley 2009 Public Sex Simon Ellis 2010 The First Grader Justin Chadwick2011 The Forgiveness of Blood Joshua Marston Blitz Elliott Lester2012 Shadow Dancer James Marsh Broken Rufus Norris 2013 The Invisible Woman Ralph Fiennes2014 Every Secret Thing Amy J. Berg Testament of Youth James Kent 2015 Ex Machina Alex Garland First collaboration with Garland 2017 Euphoria Lisa Langseth2018 Annihilation Alex Garland Mission: Impossible – Fallout Christopher McQuarrie2022 Men Alex Garland The Man from Toronto Patrick Hughes 2023 The Book of Clarence Jeymes Samuel 2024 Civil War Alex Garland2026 Supergirl Craig Gillespie James Watkins Post-production
Television Year Title Director Notes 1998 Hair of the DogSusannah Gent TV special 1999 Acts of Passion Episode "Bed Head" 2020 Devs Alex Garland Miniseries 2026 Blade Runner 2099 Jonathan van Tulleken 3 episodes
TV movies Year Title Director Notes 2009 Red Riding 1974 Julian Jarrold Segment of Red Riding 2010 Whistle and I'll Come to You Andy De Emmony 2011 Stolen Justin Chadwick
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Title Result Ref. 2007 British Academy Television Awards Best Photography & Lighting: Fiction Boy A 2015 British Society of Cinematographers Best Cinematography Ex Machina 2018 Seattle Film Critics Society Best Cinematography Mission: Impossible – Fallout 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Cinematography Devs
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