A groundbreaking Black photographer reflects on his career inside the country’s most influential publications during the height of America’s pictorial magazine era, when his vivid images—from the deaths of JFK and Martin Luther King Jr. to the Attica uprising— helped define how the nation saw itself.
Photographing the era's social and political turmoil, as well as cultural icons like Muhammad Ali, B.B. King, Richie Havens and the young Michael Jackson, John Shearer had an office at LIFE Magazine before he turned 23 years old--but it all came crashing down when the publishing industry imploded just a few years later. The film features an inspired jazz/blues soundtrack by John's daughter, New York City-based recording artist Alison Shearer, in collaboration with James Spione's longtime composer Emile Menasché.
"A documentary about one of the greatest American photographers of the 20th century." - DEADLINE
Below are some examples of Shearer's unforgettable pictures...
Shearer captured heartwrenching images of the crowd gathered for the funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968.
Richie Havens, 1968.
Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, 1971.
Funeral of gang member, 1972.