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

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In his impressive and artistically versatile documentary, Thomas Allen Harris chronicles the history of photography from an Afro-American perspective. With the aid of countless archive photographs he makes apparent how, from the beginnings of photography to the present day, the black community used the camera as a tool for social change. If photography’s story has until now largely been told through the work of white photographers, Harris enables Afro- American photographers, collectors and historians to have their say and analyse and re-read their history in terms of representations of ‘blackness’ by others as opposed to self-representation. Making use of photographic arrangements, some of which are collage-like and others animated, the film introduces us to photographers of arthistorical importance like Roy De Carvava and Deborah Willis who have influenced subsequent artists and inspired them with their powerful depiction of everyday life. As he did in his film E minha cara which screened at the Berlinale in 2002, Harris once again makes use of personal material depicting his own family in order to reflect upon the emergence of a sense of photographic identity among African Americans in the USA.

details

  • Runtime

    92' min
  • Country

    United States
  • Year of Presentation

    2014
  • Year of Production

    2014
  • Director

    Thomas Allen Harris
  • Cast

  • Production Company

    Through A Lens Darkly, LLC
  • Berlinale Section

    Panorama
  • Berlinale Category

    Documentary Film

Biography Thomas Allen Harris

Born in New York in 1962, he grew up in the Bronx and in Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. A biology graduate from Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his documentaries, installations and experimental videos have been presented at numerous international festivals. His film É MINHA CARA screened in the Berlinale Forum in 2001. He also works as a TV producer and has founded a film production company, Chimpanzee Productions.

Filmography Thomas Allen Harris

1988 65-C Codman Park | 1989 Crisis: Who will do Science | 1991 Splash | 1992 Black body | 1993 Heaven, Earth & Hell | 1994 Math, Science & Community | 1994 All In the Family | 1995 Families of Value | 1995 VINTAGE | 1996 Encounter at Intergalactic Café | 1999 Blue Baby | 2001 É Minha Cara/That’s My Face | 2005 Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela | 2009 Digital Diaspora Family Reunion Roadshow | 2011 Marriage Equality: Byron Rushing and the Fight for Fairness