Award-Winning Documentary Celebrates Pioneering Black Photographers
Filmmaker/photographer Michael Blackshire, age 32, has made a documentary about pioneering Black photographers in Chicago, now in their eighties.
Blackshire’s film “Voices in the Mirror” features interviews with octogenarian photojournalists Ovie Carter and Bob Black. It is a 2026 Student Academy Award Finalist.
“I felt that Ovie Carter and Bob Black were not talked about enough,” says Blackshire, “and needed to be discussed more in photojournalism classes. The story felt like an unsung story of a moment in time for Black history, photojournalism history, and the golden age of newspaper journalism.”
Ovie Carter and Bob Black
Ovie Carter, 80, won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting along with reporter William Mullen of the Chicago Tribune for their series “The Faces of Hunger.” Carter worked at the Tribune from 1969-2004, pioneering the concept of photographic editorials.
In addition to his Pulitzer, Carter’s work has been recognized by World Press Photo, the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), the Overseas Press Club of America, and state and local photographers’ associations.
Bob Black, 87, joined the staff of the Chicago Defender in 1965 and worked for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1968-2006. A World Press Photo winner, Black co-founded the Visual Task Force at NABJ and was one of the founders of the Chicago Alliance of African American Photographers (CAAAP).
Photographers Ovie Carter, left, and Bob Black recall their past work in Chicago (Photo by Michael Blackshire)
Who is Michael Blackshire?
Blackshire earned a film/photojournalism degree from the University of Western Kentucky in 2020 and a master’s degree in photojournalism from Ohio University in December 2025.
Los Angeles-based filmmaker/photographer Michael Blackshire
Based in Los Angeles, Blackshire has experience in news photography, completing internships/fellowships at the Los Angeles Times (2023-24), The Atlanta Journal Constitution (2023), Chicago Tribune (2022), and The Washington Post (2021).
“When I interned at the Chicago Tribune, I saw several images of Ovie Carter, and that is when I knew I needed to tell his story,” Blackshire says. “While filming, what surprised me the most was the depth of memory that Ovie Carter and Bob Black still have — in vivid details of assignments going back to the early 1970s.”
“I became fascinated by hearing how busy they were on a regular basis, from Ovie Carter traveling to Africa for over a month to Bob Black working for Ebony and Jet magazines on his days off from the Chicago Sun-Times.”
Newspaper clipping with photo from Africa by Ovie Carter (Photo by Michael Blackshire)
‘Voices in the Mirror’
The title of Blackshire’s documentary, Voices in the Mirror, is itself an echo of history. Legendary photographer/film director/musician Gordon Parks (1912-2006) released a memoir in 1990 entitled “Voices in the Mirror.”
Filmmaker Blackshire seeks to document and amplify the voices of photographers Carter and Black while also reflecting a broader point.
“Still photography will always hold a special place in the development of storytelling and from the standpoint of history,” says Blackshire. “Voices in the Mirror is a documentary to remind people that in the age of artificial intelligence and layoffs, it is always vital to have photojournalists on staff and for photojournalists to tell stories.”
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