As a part of the generation of the Czechoslovak New Wave he worked on Juraj Jakubisko‘s The Prime of Life / Kristove roky and Birdies, Orphans and Fools / Vtáčkovia, siroty a blázni, and with Alain Robbe-Grillet on Slovak/French coproductions The Man Who Lies / Muž, ktorý luže and Eden and After / Eden a potom.

After his emigration to Paris and later to Hamburg he worked with many acclaimed European directors, most notably as cinematographer of The Tin Drum / Plechový bubienok by Volker Schlöndorff.

He received the annual German film and television award The Goldene Kamera, and he won the German Film Awards twice. The Slovak National Sun in a Net Awards honoured him with the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Slovak Cinema.

In January 2020 the President of the Slovak Republic Zuzana Čaputová awarded Igor Luther with the Pribina Cross I. Class for his extraordinary merits for the cultural development of the Slovak Republic in the field of cinematography.