Cameraperson (2016)
(Kirsten Johnson, US 2016, 104 min., DCP)
A director of photography on more than fifty films, Kirsten Johnson has been around the world and interacted with people from Bosnian shepherds to Nigerian midwives to Jacques Derrida. In Cameraperson, Johnson takes footage from many of her previous projects to form something between a documentary, an autobiography, and an ethical inquiry. Through a series of episodic juxtapositions, Johnson explores the relationships between image makers and their subjects, the tension between the objectivity and intervention of the camera, and the complex interaction of unfiltered reality and crafted narrative. Cameraperson is both a moving glimpse into one filmmaker’s personal journey and a thoughtful examination of what it means to train a camera on the world.
Introduction by Linda Moroney, professor at St. John Fisher College and RIT’s School of Film and Animation. Followed by a Q&A with Moroney and Jared Case, Curator of Film Exhibitions.