Ava Berkofsky and Lighting Black Skin with Intention

Ava Berkofsky is a cinematographer known for her groundbreaking work on Insecure and her focus on properly lighting Black faces in film and television.

She is celebrated for creating cinematic lighting that honors the nuances of darker skin tones and challenges traditional practices that often wash out or misrepresent people of color on screen.

Craft and background

Berkofsky has spoken about noticing in film school that common lighting techniques often ignored nonwhite subjects. That realization shaped her approach.

She acknowledges that traditional lighting methods for Black skin often do not work. Instead of pushing skin tones to the same exposure levels used for lighter skin, she focuses on reflection-based strategies, including whiteboards and muslin, to build a natural glow.

Approach to lighting and image design

On projects like Insecure, she balances painterly aesthetics with technical precision so skin tone is properly represented.

Her use of soft sources and reflected light helps maintain dimension and depth rather than flattening faces under broad, even illumination. She has also spoken about avoiding the flat look commonly associated with some sitcom setups by varying light levels across a scene.

Why this is inspiring

Berkofsky’s work pushes cinematography forward by tying representation directly to craft choices.

Her process is not just technical. It is intentional image-making that treats Black faces with the same care, complexity, and visual attention often reserved for lighter-skinned subjects.

That standard changes how stories feel on screen, and it changes who gets to feel seen in them.