Harris extends the concept of a family album from an intimate document of close relations to the images that make up the American family album, a document of race relations. Within these pages, he finds both disturbing and compelling portraits of blacks in the US dating from the early days of photography to the present. Drawing on the research of Deborah Willis and her groundbreaking book Reflections in Black, Harris’s fascinating film essay examines the role of photography in shaping the identity of African Americans. Photographers and artists from Roy DeCarava to Carrie Mae Weems deepen the reflections, as do scholars such as Willis. 

Kathy Geritz