I’m a cinematographer specializing in longitudinal vérité projects but with a knack for creative non-fiction. My shooting style adapts to the project, whether it be single-camera observational scenes or finding the beauty in the mundane, I arrive with an open mind that all things are possible.
Therefore, my work has premiered at various festivals, from Sundance to MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight. Most recently, I co-DP’d Debra Granik’s forthcoming doc series CONBODY vs. Everybody (2024, Sundance, DOCNYC), and Jay Arthur Sterrenberg and Kelly Anderson’s Emergent City (2024, Tribeca, PBS). Both projects were ten years in the making. I’ve had a long and productive collaboration with experimental documentarian Lynne Sachs starting with Your Day is My Night (2013, MoMA Documentary Fortnight), Tip of My Tongue (2015, Closing Night of MoMA Documentary Fortnight), and The Washing Society (2018, BAMCinemaFest). Finally, my work has appeared online at the NYTimes Op-Docs, The Criterion Channel, MUBI, DAFilms, and Max.
From 2012-2015 I was the Assistant Director of Mono No Aware, a non-profit cinema arts organization hosting analog filmmaking workshops and an annual exhibition of expanded cinema. I’m a proud member of the Meerkat Media Collective, a group of media makers practicing collaboration and consensus, as well as the Documentary Cinematographers Alliance.
I have a BFA in Film Production from Emerson College and an MFA in Integrated Media Arts from CUNY Hunter College, where I teach Cinematography.I live in New York City with my partner and daughter.
To get in touch about working together, write me at: seanhanley.dp@gmail.com