The first documentary to explore the American family album through the eyes of black photographers

Using an experimental approach, Harris shows how black communities use photography and imagery to construct political, aesthetic, and cultural representations of themselves in the world.

THROUGH A LENS DARKLY is a two-hour film that will explore the role of photography, since its rudimentary beginnings in the 1840s, in shaping the identity, aspirations, and social emergence of African Americans from slavery to the present.The dramatic arch is developed as a visual narrative that flows through the past 160 years to reveal black photography as an instrument for social change, an African American point-of-view on American history, and a particularized aesthetic vision.

THROUGH A LENS DARKLY is inspired by Dr. Deborah Willis's ground breaking book Reflections in Black.

Directed and produced by: Thomas Allen HARRIS

The documentary is co-produced by noted scholar, curator, and author, Deborah Willis PhD who is Chair of the New York University, Tisch School of the Arts department of Photography & Imaging. Willis has authored over thirty publications on African American photography including, "Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers from 1840 to the Present" and most recently, "Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs"

Produced by
Deb Willis
Ann Bennett
Don Perry
Thomas Allen Harris

Production
Chimpanzee Productions

website
www.1world1family.me/


Title: THROUGH A LENS DARKLY: BLACK PHOTOGRAPHERS AND THE EMERGENCE OF A PEOPLE

Country: U.S.

GRANT: Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program 2009


The film is almost done. We have a fine cut. We need completion funds for the final edit, online and sound mix, and archival licensing. Please join us and help us to complete the journey with a tax deductible donation.
www.usaprojects.org/project/through_a_lens_darkly_black_photographers_and_the_emergence_of_a_people

AWARDS
* NAACP Image Award Nomination for Best Theatrical Doc,
* Winner of the Fund for Santa Barbara Social Justice Award,
* PAFF Programmers Best Documentary Award,
* African Movie Academy Award, Best Diasporic Documentary.

http://throughalensdarkly.wordpress.com