Biography
Kira Kelly is an American cinematographer. She graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in radio, television and film, and began her career working as an electrician and gaffer before becoming a director of photography.
Her credits include the documentary 13th (2016), for which she received an Emmy nomination, three seasons of the series Queen Sugar, the limited series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (2020), an episode of Insecure (2020) that earned her a second Emmy nomination, and Y: The Last Man (2021). She has also worked on features such as Were the World Mine (2008) and Rez Ball (2024).
In 2020 Kelly became the first Black woman invited to join the American Society of Cinematographers. She has been recognised on lists including American Cinematographer’s Rising Stars of Cinematography and Variety’s Top Cinematographers to Watch.
