Declan Quinn, ASC, the winner of three Independent Spirit Awards, is one of today's most acclaimed and versatile cinematographers. He previously worked with Paul Weitz as director of photography on Being Flynn.
He frequently collaborates with Mira Nair, having worked with the director on The Reluctant Fundamentalist; Hysterical Blindness, for which he received an Emmy Award nomination; segments of three omnibus films (8, 11'9"01, and New York, I Love You); the award-winning Monsoon Wedding; Vanity Fair, also for Focus Features; and Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love. The latter earned him the first of his three Spirit Awards; the others came for his cinematography of Mike Figgis' Leaving Las Vegas and Jim Sheridan's In America.
A creative partnership with another director, Jonathan Demme, began on the documentary feature Cousin Bobby; has continued through features both documentary (two on Neil Young and one on Jimmy Carter) and narrative (Rachel Getting Married), the most recent – combining elements of both – starring Wallace Shawn (of Admission) and André Gregory and incorporating Mr. Shawn's own adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's The Master Builder.
Mr. Quinn's other film credits as director of photography include Mike Figgis' Cold Creek Manor and One Night Stand; Jim Sheridan's Get Rich or Die Tryin'; Betty Thomas' 28 Days; Joel Schumacher's Flawless; Carl Franklin's One True Thing; Jimmy Smallhorne's 2by4, for which he received the Cinematography Award at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival; Louis Malle's Vanya on 42nd Street; Maggie Greenwald's The Battle of Little Jo and The Kill-Off; Fergus Tighe's Clash of the Ash; Neil Jordan's Breakfast on Pluto, for which he received an IFTA Award nomination; Neil Burger's The Lucky Ones; Mary Harron's The Moth Diaries; and Rebecca Miller's The Private Lives of Pippa Lee.
He was both executive producer (with his brothers Paul and Aidan Quinn) and cinematographer on This is My Father, written and directed by his brother Paul on location in Ireland. The Quinn brothers' parents hail from Ireland, and emigrated to Chicago shortly before Mr. Quinn was born.
Mr. Quinn began his career studying photography and working for local newspapers, and worked as a news cameraman. He then focused on documentary work as well as music videos and commercials, all mediums that he continues to explore.
Focus Features