Cameraperson

Prosecuting attorney, Guy James Gray, describes evidence he prepared in the James Byrd case. Byrd, a Black man in Jasper, TX, was chained to a pick-up truck and dragged to death by two white men. To avoid showing graphic photos in open court, Gray's team prepared a book of photos for the jury. In the clip, Gray describes some of the book's content.

Johnson's driver informs her that journalists need a permit to shoot video of the prison – a permit they don't have. So they plan to say they are making an movie for entertainment, which doesn't need a permit. But their subterfuge raises the suspicion of soldiers and we're left to wonder if the driver is arrested.

Johnson is shooting footage of her mother, who is identified as being in early stages of Alzheimer's. When Johnson asks her mother if it's okay to film, her mother seems lost in another reality and never actually gives an answer. If this was a courtroom, her mother would likely be judged not competent enough to stand trial.

Syrian dissident, Charif Kiwan, speaks to a university audience about the ethics of showing the violated, dead bodies of the victims of war or atrocities. When he asserts that showing graphic images is just about making money, a student challenges him with an example where a powerful image of a dead child turned the tide of public sentiment.

Kirsten Johnson discusses how the presence of a camera changes both people and moments.

In an age of media saturation, filmmaker Kirsten Johnson encourages us to question images.

Filmmaker Kirsten Johnson explores what it means to document someone else's pain.

Filmmaker Kirsten Johnson explores responsibility and power dynamics in documentary film.

A boxing match in Brooklyn; life in postwar Bosnia; the daily routine of a Nigerian midwife; an intimate family moment at home: these scenes and others are woven into a tapestry of footage captured over the twenty-five-year career of cinematographer Kirsten Johnson.