HS
Hillary Spera
Additional Credits
Hillary Fyfe Spera is an American director of photography. Rather than following a conventional film-school path, she began in still photography and then “learned by doing,” taking on whatever camera or operator work she could find and evolving into being a director of photography.
Early in her career, Spera built a diverse body of work that includes documentary features such as After Tiller (2013) and Oxyana (2013), and narrative features such as Wildlike (2014) — the latter filmed on location in Alaska and starring Bruce Greenwood and Ella Purnell. It was for Wildlike that she received the Gerald Hirschfeld A.S.C. Award for Cinematography (Narrative Feature) at the Ashland Independent Film Festival in Oregon in 2015.
As Spera’s work progressed, she moved into more high-profile television and streaming productions. She served as director of photography on the mini-series Dexter: New Blood (2021–22), working in highly challenging conditions of snow, cold, and extended exterior shoots. She also brought a distinctly cinematic style to the series Daredevil: Born Again (2025-), drawing inspiration from 1970s New York thrillers and employing vintage anamorphic lenses to bring texture, width, and character to the visual world.
Spera emphasises the collaborative nature of cinematography and the idea that a cinematographer serves the crew just as much as the director: “we are only as good as our team — we are not doing this solo.” Although she does not come from a formal graduate-level cinematography program, she counts influential cinematographers such as Harris Savides, Gordon Willis, and Vilmos Zsigmond among her artistic inspirations.
Early in her career, Spera built a diverse body of work that includes documentary features such as After Tiller (2013) and Oxyana (2013), and narrative features such as Wildlike (2014) — the latter filmed on location in Alaska and starring Bruce Greenwood and Ella Purnell. It was for Wildlike that she received the Gerald Hirschfeld A.S.C. Award for Cinematography (Narrative Feature) at the Ashland Independent Film Festival in Oregon in 2015.
As Spera’s work progressed, she moved into more high-profile television and streaming productions. She served as director of photography on the mini-series Dexter: New Blood (2021–22), working in highly challenging conditions of snow, cold, and extended exterior shoots. She also brought a distinctly cinematic style to the series Daredevil: Born Again (2025-), drawing inspiration from 1970s New York thrillers and employing vintage anamorphic lenses to bring texture, width, and character to the visual world.
Spera emphasises the collaborative nature of cinematography and the idea that a cinematographer serves the crew just as much as the director: “we are only as good as our team — we are not doing this solo.” Although she does not come from a formal graduate-level cinematography program, she counts influential cinematographers such as Harris Savides, Gordon Willis, and Vilmos Zsigmond among her artistic inspirations.
Hillary Spera Filmography
| 2025 | The Parenting · as Director Of Photography |
| 2025 | Daredevil: Born Again (TV Series) · as Director Of Photography |
| 2023 | Extrapolations (TV Series) · as Director Of Photography |
| 2021 | Dexter: New Blood (TV Series) · as Cinematographer |
| 2020 | Heaven's Gate: The Cult of Cults (TV Series) · as Cinematographer |
| 2020 | The Flight Attendant (TV Series) · as Director Of Photography |
| 2020 | The Craft: Legacy · as Director Of Photography |
| 2020 | Run · as Director Of Photography |
| 2018 | You (TV Series) · as Director Of Photography |
| 2018 | The Package · as Director Of Photography |
| 2018 | Alex Strangelove · as Director Of Photography |
| 2018 | Duck Butter · as Director Of Photography |
| 2018 | Dude · as Director Of Photography |
| 2018 | Sidelined · as Director Of Photography |
| 2017 | Submission · as Director Of Photography |
| 2017 | Strangers (2017) (TV Series) · as Cinematographer |
| 2017 | |
| 2017 | Saturday Church · as Director Of Photography |
| 2017 | Yellow Rose · as Cinematographer |
| 2015 | Jack of the Red Hearts · as Director Of Photography |
| 2015 | Breaking a Monster · as Director Of Photography |
| 2015 | Before the Bomb · as Cinematographer |
| 2014 | |
| 2013 | Maidentrip · as Director Of Photography |
| 2013 | After Tiller · as Director Of Photography |
| 2013 | Oxyana · as Director Of Photography |
| 2012 | Black Rock · as Director Of Photography |
| 2011 | High Road · as Cinematographer |
| 2011 | Salar · as Cinematographer |
| 2007 | Alice Neel · as Cinematographer |
| 2006 | Darkon · as Director Of Photography |
| 2005 | The Dresden Dolls: In Paradise · as Cinematographer |
| 1988 | P.O.V. (TV Series) · as Cinematographer |