Reflections in Black
A History of Black Photographers: 1840 to the Present
Originally published in 2000, Reflections in Black was the first single-volume work to collect the images of leading African American photographers—from the daguerreotype to the digital age. Through its sheer power and inherent beauty, Deborah Willis’s groundbreaking assemblage of photographs of African American life from 1840 to the present triumphantly celebrated family, endurance, and spirituality over the last two centuries as it upended stereotypes and rewrote American history. Aware that so much has changed since 2000, Willis—a world-renowned photographer, curator, and author—has now created a breathtaking twenty-fifth anniversary edition, juxtaposing hundreds of images that appeared in the original edition with 130 new ones.
As the photographic panorama unfolds, we are immersed in hugely moving glimpses of African American life, from the…