The Bitter and the Sublime: Deb Willis on African American History Through Photographs

'Deborah Willis, chair of Tisch's Photography & Imaging Department and a leading scholar of African American photography, has devoted her career to questions of black representation through images. In this video, Willis—recipient of Guggenheim, Fletcher, and MacArthur fellowships—discusses the power of 19th-century photographs of the enslaved black body, and reflects on how African American photographers have documented their communities over the years.' -- +New York University