Well Told Story : Thomas Allen Harris on his grandparents and images very rarely seen

I really enjoyed this short multi-media piece from filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris. The story blends audio, photography and text, creating an innovative, reflective experience of an otherwise dated image.

Harris talks about a wedding photo of his grandparents. They married during the Civil Rights Movement, a time, Harris expounds, where photos of black activism were abundant, but images of the black family were less visible.

The image is by the revered photographer James Van Der Zee. Harris said:

You could go into his studio and remake yourself as what you saw yourself as becoming.

 

Throughout the story, text appeared a gesture, enhancing and driving home Harris’s phrases. This story could have existed as a written essay with a complimentary series of images; however, the piece relies on digital storytelling to make these images come to life in a way they couldn’t on a printed page. This choice of presentation also felt symbolic in the way it spotlighted a genre of photography that has historically been underrepresented, sometimes even rendered invisible.

I think this story is an inspiring model to consider as we’re thinking about how we can utilize digital tools to shape our projects.

*NPR’s “Look At This” series has a lot of innovative multi-media stories I’d recommend if you enjoyed this one.