Darran Tiernan is an LA-based Irish cinematographer and full member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and the Irish Society of Cinematographers (ISC).
Born and raised by the sea in the countryside just north of Dublin, Tiernan developed an interest in photography at a young age, surrounded by the gorgeous, scenic landscapes of the Irish countryside that first drew his eye to composition and light.
His visual storytelling has shaped some of television’s most distinctive recent productions. His breakthrough television credits included series such as American Gods, Westworld, and Star Trek: Discovery.
He continued developing his signature character-driven visual style. Tiernan’s reputation grew through his work on HBO’s Perry Mason, set amid Depression-era Los Angeles, and later on The Penguin, the Emmy-winning HBO Max limited series that extends Matt Reeves’ Batman universe, for which he served as Cinematographer across multiple episodes. He also shot the Universal/Blumhouse feature The Hunt with director Craig Zobel, and lensed episodes of Barry, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, Foundation for Apple TV+, and Star Trek: Picard.
Most recently, Tiernan served as Cinematographer on Spider-Noir, the MGM Plus and Amazon Prime series starring Nicolas Cage, a project that required him to shoot the entire series in both black-and-white and color simultaneously, an ambitious technical challenge. Working alongside longtime colorist Pankaj Bajpai, Tiernan crafted a visual language paying homage to classic film noir while remaining color-compatible for audiences.
