A collection of photographs by pioneering black photographers from the last two centuries includes individual and family portraits, school and street scenes from a variety of sources. Original.

"A visual testimony of the black community through the photographer as witness, documenter, artist and recorder"--Back cover.

Surveys the work of African-American professional photographers from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century: Jules Lion, Augustus Washington, James P. Ball, the Goodridge Brothers, Cornelius M. Battey, and Addison Scurlock.

Shows that the history of black photographers intertwines with the story of African American life, as seen through photographs ranging from antebellum weddings and 1960s protest marches, to portraits of contemporary black celebrities.