He has also been recognized for his photography, taking pictures of numerous celebrities over the years, and had 30 of his photographs exhibited by French luxury retailer Colette in 2017.

Both teachers exposed students to works by significant figures of the American avant-garde cinema such as Maya Deren, Kenneth Anger, and Paul Sharits.

Romanek met actor Keith Gordon, who played De Palma's alter ego, on the set of the film; Gordon later remembered Romanek's entrance into film production: I actually met a lot of people who became important in my life, but Mark [was] one of the people who was really huge.

He has worked with many top-selling recording artists from different genres of popular music, and his videos have been given credit for making stars out of some.

Romanek directed the music videos for David Bowie's 1993 singles "Jump They Say" and "Black Tie White Noise".

In 2002, Romanek shot a video for Audioslave's "Cochise" in which the band performed in the midst of a prolonged pyrotechnic display of the intensity usually seen only during fireworks finales.

The explosions were so loud during the night shoot in the San Fernando Valley that local police and fire departments received hundreds of calls from residents who feared that a terrorist attack was under way.

Other Romanek videos that have received accolades and awards include the VMA winners "Free Your Mind" (En Vogue), "Are You Gonna Go My Way" (Lenny Kravitz), "Rain" (Madonna), "Devil's Haircut" (Beck), "99 Problems" (Jay-Z), and "Criminal" (Fiona Apple).

Two of his music videos, "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails and "Bedtime Story" by Madonna, have been made part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

[10]Despite this, Romanek returned to music video directing with Jay-Z's performance art piece "Picasso Baby", which aired on HBO on August 2, 2013.

In 2022, Romanek directed a 180-degree virtual reality concert for Foo Fighters, featuring a song by the group never before played.

[13] Romanek's first film, Static (1985), followed a man claiming to have invented a television set capable of showing a live picture of Heaven.

[14] Romanek had hoped to follow the film with an adaptation of Philip Gourevitch's A Cold Case which was to star Tom Hanks as chief investigator Andy Rosenzweig.

Throughout the 2010s, Romanek circled numerous projects that never materialized under his direction, including a remake of The Boston Strangler,[18] the Shining prequel The Overlook Hotel,[19] the David Mamet-penned conspiracy thriller Blackbird,[20] and a film about the Norco shootout,[21] amongst others.

[23] In December of the following year, Romanek revealed that he was no longer attached to it and that he had been replaced as director by Alexandre Aja.

"[25] Throughout his career in music and film, Romanek has been recognized for his photography skills, taking pictures of numerous celebrities he has befriended over the years such as Kanye West, Paul McCartney, Lenny Kravitz, Iggy Pop, Mick Jagger, Robin Williams, Harmony Korine, Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola, and Jay-Z.