Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People

Director Thomas Allen Harris traces his interest in African-American photography to his own early history. As boys, Thomas and his brother, Lyle, started taking pictures the minute their grandfather gave them cameras…and haven't stopped. In this PBS-aired Independent Lens documentary, Harris speaks to various photographers and historians about the images that shaped them and the work they create. Clarissa Sligh recalls that “everything…was negative” in terms of African-American imagery. Richard J. Powell remembers more positive images, but primarily from photo albums rather than ads, postcards, magazines, and the like. Harris's mentor, Deborah Willis, has done her part to change the conversation by collecting and displaying the work of black photographers from the 1800s and 1900s. The pieces include silvery daguerreotypes, images of black caretakers and white children, shots of Civil War soldiers, and photos of Reconstruction-era families building new lives for themselves. Harris holds up Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, and Booker T. Washington as examples of historical figures who understood the power of portraiture and used it to their advantage, aiming to inspire African-Americans while also garnering respect from white America. Harris also profiles prominent practitioners like Harlem Renaissance photographer James Van Der Zee, photographer-turned-filmmaker Gordon Parks, and street photographer Jamel Shabazz, in this edifying appreciation of the African-American family photo album, inspired by Willis's 2000 book Reflections in Black. DVD extras include bonus shorts. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)