Every negro boy and every negro girl born in this country until this present moment undergoes the agony of trying to find, in the body politic, in the body social, outside himself/herself, some image of himself or herself that is not demeaning.  —James Baldwin, 1963

From its inception, photography has been used to construct narratives about black people, from the outside and from within. In this invaluable document in the history of photography, Thomas Allen Harris takes us on a profound and personal journey through the African American family album in the company of some of our most important artists, scholars, and historians—Deborah Willis, Carrie Mae Weems, Richard J. Powell, Robin D.G. Kelley, and Coco Fusco, among others. They reflect on the political, social, and artistic history of black photography; they muse on creation from loss, longing, and unrequited love. They speak of shame, negation, self-invention, and self-affirmation, and they find spirit and community and beauty. Throughout, we are bathed in images, as in a waking dream.  CRE

Moderated conversation following screening with filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris, producer Deborah Willis, and special guest Richard J. Powell