Cinematographer hugh johnson passes away in us

The death has occurred in Los Angeles following an illness of the Navan-born cinematographer, Hugh Johnson, best known for his association with filmmaker Ridley Scott.

His love of movies and filmmaking began while working as a projectionist in the Lyric and Palace cinemas in Navan for the Kennedy family in the 1960s, and after school, he set off for London, where he picked up work as a barman, but aslo in Kingly Studios, a photography studio in Soho.

Here, he worked for five or six years with names like Ridley Scott, Alan Parker and Hugh Hudson, and when Scott made his first movie, The Duellists, in 1977, he brought Hugh Johnson on board.

There followed a period of making commercials and movies, and travelling the world, and in 1981, he took over as director of photography from Tony Scott on 'The Hunger'.

He was based in France for three years, and worked in a lot in France, Italy, Germany and Spain. In the mid eighties, he returned to London and worked with the Scotts there on TV commercials up to 1992, as well as directing the second unit on the film ‘1492’ about Columbus’ discovery of America. In 1992, he moved to the US.

Later, he prefered to work on TV commercials rather than movies, as it meant less travel and more time to spend with family, but films he has worked on in recent years include ‘Eragon’, ‘Kingdom of Heaven’, ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’, ‘Chill Factor’ and ‘GI Jane’ starring Demi Moore.

A funeral service is taking place in Los Angeles.