Spence began making horror films with friends as a teenager, shooting on 8mm video and editing in his school’s media department. After completing a three-year degree in television production, he started working freelance in factual entertainment in 2002, operating cameras for programmes including Blue Peter, MTV Cribs and documentaries, reality television and children’s television. He gradually moved into music videos, commercials and scripted drama without following the conventional route through film school or camera-assistant roles.
Ben’s early scripted credits include Hollyoaks Later (2012), followed by comedy and drama series such as GameFace, Witless and In My Skin. He photographed the second series of The End of the F**ing World* (2019), earning a 2020 Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour). He also photographed The Blue Door, a short film nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Short Film in 2019.
His subsequent television work includes This Is Going to Hurt (2022), Alma’s Not Normal (2021), Mister Winner (2020) and Eric (2024), the Netflix drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch. For Eric, Spence won the 2024 Royal Television Society Craft and Design Award for Photography in Scripted Television and the 2025 British Society of Cinematographers award in the International/Streaming category. The series also earned him a 2025 BAFTA Television Craft Award nomination for Photography and Lighting: Fiction.
Spence’s commercial cinematography includes campaigns for brands such as Zara, Waitrose, McDonald’s, Adobe and Specsavers, alongside music videos for artists including Beth Ditto and Leona Lewis. His later work includes Neuromancer, the Apple TV adaptation directed by J.D. Dillard and Wayne Yip. His career combines commercial production with long-form television drama and short-form narrative filmmaking.