Javier Aguirresarobe
Javier Aguirresarobe Zubía ASC is a Spanish cinematographer. After working primarily in Spanish movies during the 1980s and 1990s, he gained international recognition for his work on The Others. From there, he worked mostly in Hollywood productions, ranging across multiple genres. He is a five-time Goya Award winner and a BAFTA Award nominee, among other accolades.
Early life and education
Javier Aguirresarobe Zubía was born in Eibar, Guipúzcoa, Basque Country, Spain, on 10 October 1948. He has an older brother who was an industrial photographer, whom he used to help in the lab as a teenager, and this sparked his passion for photography.After earning a Diploma in Optics, He moved to Madrid to study journalism, and worked at various newspapers before deciding to change tack. He studied cinematography at the Official School of Cinematography, which has close links to the Spanish film industry. Only the top nine students in the entrance exam were admitted to the cinematography course. The students used 35mm film.
Career
In 1983, Aguirresarobe's first work as cinematographer was for "a very small movie", La Muerte de Mikel, which turned out to be a success at the box office.He first attracted international attention with the 1997 film Secrets of the Heart, and even more in 2001 with The Others, directed by Alejandro Amenábar and starring Nicole Kidman.
Aguirresarobe has worked with Spanish directors such as Imanol Uribe, Montxo Armendáriz, Alejandro Amenábar, Pedro Almodóvar, Julio Médem, Montxo Armendáriz, and Fernando Trueba, and internationally, with Miloš Forman, John Hillcoat, Woody Allen and Chris Weitz.
Honors
In 2004, he won the Spanish National Photography Award.In 2009, Aguirresarobe was one of two recipients to be awarded the Universal Basque Prize by the Lehendakari "in recognition of their endeavours to disseminate the image of the Basque Country outside its frontiers in the seat of the Lehendakaritza".
In 2012, Aguirresarobe was honoured with membership of the American Society of Cinematographers on the recommendation of Steven Poster, Julio Macat, and Rodrigo Prieto.
Filmography
Documentary works
es:El proceso de Burgos| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1985 | The Basque Whalers of Labrador | Thomas Cadieux | |
| 1989 | Donde termina el corazón | Carlos Scola | |
| 1992 | Dream of Light | Víctor Erice | With Ángel Luis Fernández and José Luis López-Linares |
| 1993 | Marathon | Carlos Saura | |
| 2003 | Eric Clapton and Friends | Jana Bokova |
Documentary shorts
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1977 | Ez | Imanol Uribe | |
| 1979 | Ikuska 2 | Pedro Olea | |
| 1980 | Ikuska 4 | Xabier Elorriaga | |
| 1980 | Ikuska 8 | Koldo Larrañaga | |
| 1981 | Ikuska 11 | Montxo Armendáriz | |
| 1983 | La huella árabe en España | Jaime de Armiñán | With Teo Escamilla |
| 1983 | Ikuska 13. Euskal kanta berria. La nueva canción vasca | Imanol Uribe | |
| 1985 | Bihotzez | Pedro Olea | |
| 1988 | Ngira: Gorilas en la montaña | Carlos Scola |