Through A Lens Darkly

About the Project

Through a Lens Darkly is a multi-platform photography-based project built around a two-hour film for public television, with an anticipated airdate in 2010. This film will be the first documentary on this subject and will vividly bring to life individual photographers, as well as anonymous and celebrated subjects, whose personalities defined and transformed the lives of African-Americans through the magic and power of the camera lens. While the documentary is a compelling account of the ways in which African Americans used photography as a tool for social change; the entire project will support new audience and community engagement on issues of family, race and identity.

A central part of the production is a national multi-platform outreach initiative to engage African Americans to reconsider the value of their family archives as a public validation of the Black image. Through this multi-platform outreach project, both the public collections and the personal archive will be made more accessible to present and future generations and allow users to gain a deeper appreciation for the issues, questions and concerns raised by the project through self-directed investigations according to their own interests.