Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers And The Emergence Of A People
First Run Features | Release Date: August 27, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Los Angeles TimesMartin TsaiNov 13, 2014
Some of the black photographers' works here are breathtaking — and may prompt you to hunt down Willis' book for the coffee table. But there's so much more to take away from Harris' documentary. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. ScottAug 26, 2014
At times, Mr. Harris’s voice-over narration veers into academic abstraction or lyrical emotionalism in ways that undercut the eloquence of the images, but over all he is a wise and passionate guide to an inexhaustibly fascinating subject. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayDec 11, 2014
The power of images — to distort, define, denigrate and celebrate — emerges with clarity and force in Through a Lens Darkly, a fascinating, visually stunning, emotionally devastating documentary by Thomas Allen Harris. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerAug 29, 2014
The implicit question overhanging the film: Is the political impetus to present only “positive” imagery of black people an injustice to the fullest range of their experience? Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireAug 28, 2014
In telling this story and exploring its meanings, Harris’ well-crafted film uses interviews with a number of historians and black photographers. But its greatest asset is the trove of photographs it marshals. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineClayton DillardAug 24, 2014
Thomas Allen Harris's documentary consistently takes agency away from the art itself with a litany of talking heads. Read full review
60
VarietyDennis HarveyAug 28, 2014
Though a tad uneven, as a whole the documentary cannily juggles an overview of African-American history in general with the specifics of its photographic representation and talents. Read full review
60
The DissolveAndrew LapinAug 26, 2014
Director Thomas Allen Harris, who has a background in transmedia art, has made an earnest, though often sloppy, documentary on the essential role imagery plays in shaping the narrative of a people. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichAug 24, 2014
The survey the film provides is bracing, and there are plenty of talking heads to guide us through the kaleidoscope of imagery. Unfortunately, there’s also a public-television vibe to the proceedings that mutes the overall power. It’s essential info presented with little imagination. Read full review
50
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeAug 27, 2014
The photographs on view are dazzling; the way they are shown here is somewhat less so. Read full review
50
Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonAug 26, 2014
Would that Harris had simply let the images and their historical context speak for themselves. His narration is simplistic and narcissistic... and the textual ideas he and his interviewees present about the intersection between race and imagery are hardly fresh. Read full review
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