BROWSE BY TOPIC
BOOKS
Art on My Mind: Visual Politics | bell hooks
Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples | Linda Tuhiwai Smith
How to See a Work of Art in Total Darkness | Darby English
Pictures and Progress: Early Photography and the Making of African American Identity | Edited by Maurice O. Wallace and Shawn Michelle Smith
Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers, 1840 to the Present | Deborah Willis
The Photographer’s Guide to Inclusive Photography | Photoshelter and Authority Collective
The Other | Ryszard Kapuściński
Vision & Justice | Aperture, Guest Editor: Sarah Lewis
ARTICLES & ESSAYS
Beyond Empathy | Sonya Childress, Firelight Media
Black Media Matters: Remembering The Bombing of Osage Avenue (1987) | Karen Redrobe, Film Quarterly
Cameras Won’t Stop Police From Killing: Body Cams Have Turned Brutality into Spectacle | Farhad Manjoo, The New York Times
Fuck Photojournalism | Clary Estes, Medium
George Floyd, Gordon Parks, and the Ominous Power of Photographs | Deborah Willis, Aperture
Getting Others Right | Teju Cole, The New York Times
How Alexandra Bell Is Disrupting Racism in Journalism | Doreen St. Félix
How Do I (Not) Look? Live Feed Video and Viral Black Death | Alexandra Juhasz, JSTOR Daily
How Kodak’s Shirley Card Set Photography’s Standard for Skin Tone | Mandalit Del Barco, NPR
Navigating The River: The Hidden Colonialism of Documentary | Edwin Martinez, International Doc Association
Please Stop Showing the Video of George Floyd’s Death | Melanye Price, The New York Times
Power and Perspective in Storytelling: How To Support Each Other, Authentically Represent Characters, and Dismantle The White Power Structure | Lauretta Prevost, Filmmaker Magazine
The Time is Always Now | Ben Sloat, Aperture
True Picture Of Black Skin | Teju Cole, The New York Times
Viral Black Death: Why We Must Watch Citizen Videos of Police Violence | Kimberly Fain, JSTOR Daily
Ways of Seeing: Images and Politics of ‘Hale County’ | Lauren Wissot, International Doc Association
What Does Seeing Black Men Die Do For You | Jamil Smith, The New Republic
When the Camera Was a Weapon of Imperialism. (And When It Still Is.) | Teju Cole, The New York Times
Whose Story?: Five Doc-Makers on (Avoiding) Extractive Filmmaking | Lauren Wissot, International Doc Association
Why Aren’t There Any Famous Asian American Photographers? | Will Matsuda, Aperture
Why It’s Time For Visual Journalism To Include A Solutions Focus | David Campbell, World Press Photo
Why Photography Can’t Get Woke | Claire Suddath, Bloomberg Businessweek
FILMS & DOCUMENTARIES
Black Is … Black Ain’t | Marlon Riggs
Still Black: A Portrait of Black Trans Men | Kortney Ryan Ziegler
For antiracism resources that expand beyond the scope of art and photography, visit the links below to find resource guides and reading lists compiled by some of the organizations dedicated to the fight for racial equality. There is a wealth of knowledge within these lists; each book, essay, and film represents a voice that has something to teach us. We would like to thank these organizations for the important work they’re doing.
If you’re interested in purchasing a copy of any of these books, please consider supporting bookshops owned by people of color. Buzzfeed has provided a list of some of these businesses here.
An Antiracist Reading List | Ibram X. Kendi, The New York Times
Anti-Racism Resources | Compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein
Institutionalized Racism: A Syllabus | JSTOR
Reading List: Decolonizing Documentary & Journalism | Compiled by Ligaiya Romero
PODCASTS
The 1619 Project | The New York Times
If you have suggestions for other books, articles, films, etc. to add to the Lenscratch Library, please send them to lenscratch2@gmail.com
