Film Photography Director

Javier Aguirresarobe was born in Eibar, in the province of Guipuzcoa, in 1948. Although the town is best known for its heavy industry, with the help of his family Aguirresarobe turned his hand to photography.

He moved to Madrid where he studied optics and journalism and enrolled in the Official School of Cinematography, where he specialised as a director of photography, completing his studies in 1972. He worked as a journalist, photographer and technician in a photographic laboratory before working on the cinematography of his first film "¿Qué hace una chica como tú en un sitio como éste?" by Fernando Colomo (1979). This was followed by "El proceso de Burgos", "La fuga de Segovia" and "La muerte de Mikel", all three directed by Imanol Uribe, consolidating his career as a leading cinematographer. In Madrid, he worked on "El Bosque Animado" by Jose Luis Cuerda; "El sol del membrillo" by Víctor Erice; "Beltenebros" "El perro del hortelano" and "Tu nombre envenena tus sueños" by Pilar Miro and "Dias contados" by Imanol Uribe. These have been followed more recently by "La niña de tus ojos" by Fernando Trueba; "Los otros" and "Mar adentro" by Alejandro Amenabar; "Hable con ella" by Pedro Almodóvar; "Soldados de Salamina" by David Trueba; "Goya's Ghosts" by Milos Forman; "The city of your final destination" by James Ivory; "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" by Woody Allen; "The Road", based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy and directed by John Hillcoat, and "Crepuscule - New Moon" by Chris Weitz.

He won the National Cinematography Award and six Goya awards for Best Photography.

Aguirresarobe has recently been awarded as Universal Basque 2009.

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