In a new interview featured in Ebony Magazine, Filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris talks about the importance of family photographs especially in African-American history, mentioning his Emmy nominated film Through a Lens Darkly and transmedia Digital Diaspora Family Reunion. And just as important, the article pays homage to the importance of Black Photographers in preserving that […]
Our very own Thomas Allen Harris has embarked on an exciting opportunity: he is currently serving as a Montgomery Fellow at Dartmouth College! The prestigious Montgomery Fellowship Program, established in 1977 through gifts from Dartmouth graduates Kenneth Montgomery ’25 and his wife Harle Montgomery, seeks to enrich the experience of Dartmouth students in the classroom […]
One of our very own Through A Lens Darkly photographers, Carrie Mae Weems recently had an interview with W magazine. Below is the whole interview! Carrie Mae Weems Reflects on Her Seminal, Enduring Kitchen Table Series Decades ago in Northampton, Massachusetts, Carrie Mae Weems began devoting a part of every single day to photographing herself […]
We are looking forward to the “If You Are in Advertising, You May Be a Racist“ panel on race and representation in advertising at the upcoming SXSW Music Film Interactive Festival. This panel was inspired by our film Through A Lens Darkly and the Digital Diaspora Family Reunion Roadshow. In fact, many of the most […]
“In 1983 the Eakins Press Foundation published only 100 copies of “O Write my Name”: American Portraits, Harlem Heroes by Carl Van Vechten, consisting of a portfolio of 50 photogravures by the titular photographer, critic, and Gertrude Stein literary executor. At the time, it was available only to public archives. One such archive is the […]
Introduction by Thomas Allen Harris: Last month I was invited to participate in a panel exploring the intersection of Diaspora with contemporary art practice. The panel included presentations by Canadian filmmaker Shanti Thakur, author Michael Thomas, ethnomusicologist Mark Slobin and myself, followed by a lively discussion about the meaning and importance of Diaspora and identity […]
Digital Diaspora Family Reunion was gifted a remarkable photo album from Myrla, which she received from her mother in law, Elaine R. Howell-Meade (1922-1998). Myrla’s father and Elaine knew each other for many years, but they did not get married until they were in their late 70’s. Elaine grew up in the Bronx, NY […]
“It’s an incredibly important film for representation of who we are, what we are. ” – Andrew Jackson, Executive Director of Langston Hughes Library in Corona, Queens. Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People was extended until September 25th due to popular demand. We continued to prepare special panel […]
Continuing the excitement from our successful opening week, Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People kicked off its second week at New York City’s Film Forum. Tribute to Hugh Bell (9/3, Wed) Moderator Our second week at Film Forum kicked off with a Tribute to Hugh Bell who was […]
By Nancy Keefe Rhodes “For most of the seven decades during which Marjory W. Wilkins made photographs, she was best known as a documentary photographer of the Black community. Her body of work comprises in artist Carrie Mae Weems’ wonderfully evocative phrase— “a tender record.”1 Wilkins began in the now vanished inner city neighborhood where she […]