Representation in of Black People in Photography
The film ‘Through a Lens Darkly’ examines the history of African-American photography. It explores how African American professional and amateur photographers have used the camera to portray themselves. The war of imageries is well documented in the film. Thomas Allen Harris claims photography has been a medium through which free people of color have authored their images (11:00). In the movie, it becomes apparent that African Americans have used photography as a medium for transforming their representation in society.
The film brings sociography to life. It documents the striking difference in how African Americans have been depicted by mainstream media and how they represent themselves. Photography has been used by African Americans to “fashion themselves as people of respectability” (Harris 20:43). The images in the film focus on the African American family album and how black photographers have portrayed people of color. Also, it highlights how African Americans have been depicted in demeaning ways in America’s family album.
Representation, as explored in the film, focuses on two aspects—first, the distortion of black subjects in media. Second, the exclusion of black people’s family albums in museums. The images African Americans see in their family albums do not reflect those the American society see in mainstream media. There is a massive difference between what African Americans see within their families and what they see in advertisements (Harris 8:16). The representation of African American subjects by African American photographers challenges the stereotypical portrayal of people of color. Moreover, it gives the world a glimpse of African American lives.
Works Cited
Harris, Thomas Allen. “Through a Lens Darkly.” Retrieved from https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6tv9e6