Born in Bromley on 3 August 1947, Richard Campbell Pope took an early interest in photography.[2] He trained at the Pathé lab in London, and began his career in 1968 working as a camera operator on documentaries.[2] He began working as a cinematographer on feature films in the 1980s.[2] He began his collaboration with Mike Leigh with 1990's Life is Sweet, and continued to work with him for over thirty years, until Hard Truths (2024).[2]
Pope and his wife, Pat, whom he married in 1972, had two children.[2] He died on 21 October 2024 at the age of 77.[2][3]
