Viewfinders: Black Women Photographers

The author has attempted to identify and show the work of as many notable black women photographers as possible. About three dozen women are pictured, described, and represented by a few photographs each. (More are listed in the end matter.) The photographs selected are occasionally remarkable but more often are ordinary portrait, news, and documentary images. The essays are often disjointed and disappointingly short on information about the photographers themselves; too often, advocacy displaces real substance. Still, this survey and collection of brief biographies, the second to appear recently (see Deborah Willis-Thomas, Black Photographers 1840-1940 , LJ 6/1/85), helps lay the foundation for in-depth research and will appeal to readers with a special interest in the subject. Kathleen Collins, Library of CongressCopyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.