John Seale began his career in 1963 at ABC-TV at Gore Hill, where his persistence quickly moved him from the stationery department to the camera department mentored by World War II Cinesound veteran Bill Grimmond. After becoming a camera operator in 1965, he worked across some of Australia’s earliest drama series before moving into features at Fauna Productions, steadily becoming one of the country’s most sought-after operators and then DOPs.

His international career took off when Peter Weir invited him to shoot Witness in 1984, leading to a remarkable body of work including Mosquito Coast, Gorillas in the Mist, Rain Man, Dead Poets Society, The Firm, The English Patient, The Talented Mr Ripley, The Perfect Storm, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Cold Mountain and more. 

John has shot 41 feature films, won 15 major cinematography awards, and been nominated more than 20 times, including winning the Academy Award for The English Patient. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2002 and honoured by the American Society of Cinematographers as International Cinematographer of the Year in 2011.