The Photograph (2021)

Directed by: Sherman De Jesus | 95 minutes | documentary

Director and producer Sherman de Jesus is in New York to uncover the story of a photograph of his grandfather, Juan De Jesus. It is proudly and stately recorded on it, as a real gentleman in the year 1920, when he arrived at Ellis Island from Curaçao. Important detail: Juan was colored. And black people were rarely captured with the dignity of a full member of society at the turn of the last century.

De Jesus discovers that his grandfather captured the black inhabitants of Harlem in a similar way to his portrait; Sherman crosses the neighborhood at eye level to present the photo to the Harlemmers and speaks to witnesses; thus broadening his grandfather’s story to the story of a neighborhood in flux, a melancholy history of black pride.

New? Not for those who know Harlem. The human stories, quickly cut into the category of items for television, show us De Jesus as an adequate observer with a human eye, and a professional translator of what he sees. It never gets long, because of the American spirit, the wealth of stories, the appropriate music and the visual interludes.

‘The Photograph’ is street documentary pur sang. There is a beginning, but no end to the story. Just like everyday life in Harlem, which once had a beginning, but continues despite advancing gentrification. The soul of Harlem continues to exist, De Jesus shows. That soul haunts the gospel services, blowing around the bend like a New York police siren and roaring above 125th Street like a subway train at speed.